


An Honest Mistake

by AppleTeeth



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (2012)
Genre: 616 universe, F/F, M/M, MCU universe, Origin Stories, Smattering of angst, trigger warning - childhood trauma
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-12-30
Updated: 2014-02-02
Packaged: 2017-11-23 01:19:33
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 21,974
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/616484
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AppleTeeth/pseuds/AppleTeeth
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Bruce Banner disappeared off the planet after a weird accident in his lab, his cousin Jennifer did everything she could to find him. She had no idea she'd find him changing into a green rage monster to save New York, or that she would be swept up into his world quite so brutally...</p>
<p>My take on Jennifer's origin story in the MCU. Some of the details have been changed slightly, but hopefully not enough to deter from the story. Eventual Bruce/Tony and Jen/Natasha pairings.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

It was three days after the gamma explosion that had changed Bruce Banner’s life, and very few people seemed to notice he had suddenly disappeared, or that he had been involved in any accident in the first place. A select number enquired about him - mostly his peers and few (and far between) friends, but not enough to stir up prominent attention. Bruce had been so secretive and so involved in his work, he never knew spending time out of the lab and socialising might have saved him from his fate of running for the next six years.  
  
There were stories after the accident. Stories of a guy pumped full of steroids attacking the base, or a monster on the rampage, or a secret weapon unleashed by accident. Those that cared about Bruce’s disappearance put the two incidences together and came to sad conclusion that he had been killed in the attack. There were fatalities that the news had mentioned, but it wasn't one of the biggest news stories of the day (the X-Men had been saving Chicago that week) and so there was limited information. The military were glad for the rumours, and did not deny if anyone asked them if Banner had died that day. The less people knew about the truth, the better.  
  
The only person who kept trying was possibly his only true friend in the world, someone who had been his best friend and rock since they were kids. And she wouldn’t be deterred by a few dead ends when she needed to find him.  
  
Jennifer Walters first tried, like everyone else, to call his work. Bruce was terrible at picking up messages and sometimes he just needed to be pinned down and he would apologise profusely for being so scatterbrained. So when Jen called his lab and was told, rather bluntly, that he no longer worked there-  
  
(“ _What do mean he no longer works there? It’s his project! His paper was the thing that funded your entire department.”_  
  
 _“What can I say? The project folded._ ”)  
  
-she was more than a little concerned.  
  
Of course she heard around the same time the story of some sort of massive goliath attacking the military. Everyone heard it. But not knowing the facts, it seemed more like a movie - something you couldn’t place in the real world. Weird things happened almost weekly and it was hard to accept them as reality, like a defence mechanism the general population had developed ever since the emergence of superheroes and villains. The monster disappeared with Bruce and Jennifer didn’t think they could one in the same person. Who would?  
  
She tried a few more numbers, eventually remembering she had Betty Ross’ email address because they had met once and Betty had mentioned a few websites she thought Jen should check out, and they had written down each other’s emails on scrap bits of paper. Neither having followed through on their promises, Jen had to search through over ten of her handbags, checking through old receipts and gum wrappers until she found it again.  
  
Jen tried to be as tactful as possible, not wanting to sound as worried as she was.

  
_Hi Betty,_   
  
_I’m looking for Bruce. He hasn’t been answering his phone, you know him! :) Could you ask him to call me?_   
  
_Thanks,_   
  
_Jen. xxx_

  
But the response she received back was unnerving to say the least.

  
_Jen,_   
  
_I’m sorry to have to be the one to tell you, but he disappeared over two weeks ago. Something went wrong with the project he was working on - nobody is giving me any details. His phone is still at my place. I’ve asked my dad to help look for him (being an army brat comes in handy sometimes) but something is definitely up and I’ll be honest, I’m worried sick._   
  
_Give me your number and we’ll share any news we hear._   
  
_Betty. xxxx_

  
She included her number and address at the bottom of the email and from then on, it was just a matter of constantly checking the news for any information. Bruce’s name was added to the countless missing persons of America and the police pretty much closed the file before they even started looking. White males disappeared all the time and he wasn’t a priority, no matter how revolutionary his research was or how much Betty missed him.  
  
Months and then years passed, and Jen had nearly come to terms with the fact that her cousin, her only remaining relative, was gone for good. Whilst she and Betty were certain it wasn’t as straightforward as someone wanting to disappear as the police suggested, there was little they could do to find him.

  
  
Years later, Jen stopped looking. She stopped checking missing or wanted posters or trying to speak with old colleagues about where he could be. It seemed the world wanted to forget Bruce Banner and, never meaning to, Jen started to accept he was either dead or never to be found again. Having known what he went through as a kid and how well he was starting to succeed as an adult, she felt not sad but angry that this was how his life was to finish. She always promised him, years back, soothing him as he cried over the latest bruise his father had issued, that he would do and achieve so much in his life. He was the smartest kid, the smartest _person_ she had ever known and he didn’t deserve to be forgotten.   
  
Then everything happened at Culver University and Harlem and whilst, again, Jen felt like she was watching a sci-fi movie, she was still gripped. She was certain she recognised the man the army were circling on the quad and she felt her chest tighten in hope.  A kid who was shooting a student film at the time had managed to take a short video and there was barely a glimpse - not even the full face and the footage was shot from so far away - but Jen couldn’t shake the feeling it was Bruce.  
  
She got a friend who helped the police with digital evidence to make it look as clear as possible and still it wasn’t perfect. The guy in the video had a baseball cap on and he was running, so she was just staring at the few freeze-frames that showed his face. If it was Bruce, he had lost a lot of weight and finally looked fit enough to run laps if he wanted to. Bruce was always a little tubby before he disappeared - he blamed it on living in a lab and eating whatever could be cooked in a microwave or ordered in. Maybe being on the run had forced him to eat well and get into shape? She started making up stories for what had happened to him. It did nothing for her nerves.  
  
She tried emailing Betty about it, but an automated response told her the account had been closed down. She tried both her home and cell number but both were no longer in use. An online search told her that she now worked at Culver University, but when she tried contacting the facility, she was told Dr Ross had to leave work without notice and _no_ , she did not leave a forwarding number. After a while, Jen just figured she was desperate for news and if she thought a man-monster thing looked like her cousin, it meant she was just seeing him everywhere.  
  
  
  
Another year without a word. And then there was the attack on New York City.  
  
The footage the news kept on playing was mostly of the superheroes fighting the monsters. There was Iron Man, the freshly-reanimated Captain America, the hammer-wielding hero who had battled a massive robot in New Mexico a while back, a woman who, by all accounts, seemed able to take down an army in hand-to-hand combat and an archer who was so good at marksmanship, Jen figured he had to be either an alien, mutant or robot.   
  
But there was one clip made by someone on their phone from an office building that wound up on the news a few days later. She watched it so many times that in the end she asked the original maker of the footage if she could get a copy to analyse.  
  
On the clip, she saw the Avengers (as they were now being called) gathering together on the bridge, discussing something (it was too far away to hear anything) and then the camera moved to show a man on a motorbike, weaving carefully through the destruction to meet them. The guy making the film laughed, saying he was going to be told to go back, but they ran up to greet him and Jen knew, she absolutely knew it was her cousin.  
  
And then Bruce went and punched a flying space walrus thing whilst simultaneously turning into the Hulk, and she screamed not in terror, but in utter delight.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jen visits Bruce at Stark Towers, ready to catch up on old times and find out just how much he has changed...

At the same time Jen was trying to find time off from work and looking at flights whilst attempting to call Stark Industries to find if her cousin was still in New York, Bruce was moving his meager belongings into one of the apartments at Stark Towers. He was going to go back to Calcutta, to pick up his crummy life there and continue to do good, but for the first time in a long, long time, someone was begging him to stay put.  
  
“You literally just saved the world and you want to go live in a shack again? Fuck that. I will fund any research you want. I will donate all my stocks into baby seal rescue. I will give you your own building with DR BANNER written up the side. Just please don’t run away like the world is chasing you any more.”  
  
And Bruce couldn’t say no. The friendship he had sparked with Tony in their brief time together was so welcome after spending so long as a wanted criminal-come-drifter. In fact, he thought it was too good, and that after they had defeated the baddie, Tony would turn off his charm and let Bruce go because he was only required for that short time. Bruce had not expected someone to ask him, to want him to stay.  
  
The one proviso to his staying with Tony was that he had to agree to help him with his projects. It started as a few casual questions, some advice needed to rebuild the suit, before Bruce found himself working through the night, both so pumped with ideas. At first he had tried to say that engineering was not his speciality, but Tony knew he was as smart as - maybe smarter than - him, and if Bruce needed to become an expert on a subject, it would only take a few hours at most.  
  
He soon stopped checking his watch for the time and instead worked to Tony’s insane schedule, finding himself sleeping whenever he finally burnt out. And no matter how exhausted he felt, it was a world better than desperately trying to find somewhere safe to stay or even worse, only sleeping whilst the Hulk had taken over his body - which couldn’t exactly be called sleeping by any means. Trying to sleep whilst Hulk was on the rampage was like trying to sleep in a tool shed during a hurricane.  
  
Within two weeks of meeting Tony Stark, Bruce had found himself immersed in a routine and lifestyle unlike the last few years. He was growing to love it.  
  
After a long night working in the lab, tinkering on the deployable Iron Man suit so it could find Tony pretty much anywhere in the world, Bruce was alerted by Jarvis that he had a visitor.  
  
“Dr Banner, there is a woman asking for you at the visitor’s entrance.”  
  
“A woman?” Tony’s ears perked up. “Is she hot? Jarvis, give me her full description.”  
  
Bruce chose to ignore Tony, as did Jarvis, who seemed to be able to know when a question did not warrant a response.  “Did she say who she was?”  
  
“A Miss Jennifer Walters, sir.”  
  
Oh.  
  
His eyes widened and he immediately put down the circuit board he was working on. Tony watched him curiously, having not expected Bruce to look so dismayed to hear a woman wanted to see him. His eyes looked down at the ground and he started to wring his hands together. He looked like he had been told a ghost had come back to life.  
  
“Let her in, Jarvis,” Bruce said finally, “can she come to my floor?”  
  
“Of course, sir.”  
  
“Wait, wait, who is she? An old flame? I thought you hooked up with that one... Betsy, Bethany...”  
  
“Betty,” Bruce said shortly. Tony very well knew her name - he was just being an ass for the fun of it and he really wasn’t in the mood to humour him. “And she’s my cousin. Practically my sister. I haven’t seen her in years...”  
  
“Oh,” said Tony, immediately dropping his sleazeball voice. “So she doesn’t know about Jade Jaws?”  
  
Bruce hunched a little as he walked to the door. He turned back and looked small. Guilty. “Uh, no. Oh God, she probably saw the news, didn’t she? I thought nobody had seen me, only... only the Other Guy.”  
  
He didn’t expect many people who knew him before the accident to come looking for him - he wasn’t exactly known for his huge circles of friends. But the thought of Jen knowing what he had become made him scared. It was hard to believe she was visiting to catch up on old times.  
  
“Don’t sweat it,” Tony said, waving an arm, his eyes back on his work. “I’m sure she’ll find it as adorable as I do.”  
  
Bruce tried not to mull over that statement as he made his way down to his apartment. As soon as the elevator door opened, he heard a familiar voice that he never thought he would hear again.  
  
“Doc!” Jen squealed as she wrapped her arms around Bruce and pulled him in for a hug. He felt his whole body stiffen up in terror - nobody had touched him like that in a very long time. Not since the last time he had seen Betty. It took him a few moments to realise she was happy to see him.  
  
Jen tried not to cry as she held him. She had to pull him in or he would have had to witness her collapsing in tears out of sheer relief. Hugging was her favourite neutraliser when it came to wanting to cry. She remembered forcing Bruce to hold her for the entirety of her parent’s funeral, not letting him go until after the last of the guests were gone. Then and only then did she allow herself to cry.  
  
She realised sadly that the last six years had felt like one long funeral, Jen unable to truly believe her cousin was gone for good. This hug was to make up for a long time.  
  
“My little Doc!” she continued. “How are you?”  
  
“Hi,” he said weakly from somewhere buried in her shoulder. His arms were around her back but they were tentative and gentle.  
  
“I was so worried when I saw-- Wait, no I’m mad at you,” she said and pushed him away. He stumbled back a few steps, a look of bemusement on his face.  
  
“What did I do?” he asked.  
  
"Why didn't you tell me you're a superhero?" and she punched his arm for good measure.  
  
"Ow, stop beating me up, Jen!" he moaned. It felt like they were teenagers again. He was always at the end of her playful attacks. "I'm sorry. It... it's a long story."  
  
"You're the only family I've got and you disappeared! I’ve been worried sick for so long!"  
  
"I've been... on the run. The government, the army, they were all after me. I couldn’t contact anyone in case they got hurt too."  
  
So everything she imagined was true. Her eyes darted up and down his body and he looked thinner than she had ever seen him in his life. And not skinny but lean - every part of him trained for living on the run.  
  
Jen couldn’t think of anything else to say but, “Holy shit, Doc, are you okay?”  
  
He was rubbing his arm gingerly where she had hit him. “I am now. Do you want lunch? Have you just flown in or...”  
  
She nodded, and Bruce could see her overnight bag right behind her. “Got a trial ongoing but it’s on break until next week. And when I saw the news about the attack... I couldn’t fly out until now. ”  
  
“Let’s get some lunch and I’ll explain everything,” he reassured her.  
  
“Okay.”  
  
As they headed down into the lobby, Jen following his lead through the expensive and vast building, she noticed how comfortable he was in what seemed to her the most high-tech and shamefully luxurious buildings she had ever been in, sans possibly a top restaurant whilst being wined and dined by a client.  
  
Bruce stopped dead however when he saw Tony waiting for them by the public entrance. Immediately he knew Tony was up to something and shook his head to tell him to stop whatever he was planning. Obviously, Tony ignored him.  
  
“Well hello,” he said as he approached Jen. “I’m Tony Stark, I’m sure you’ve heard of me. And you must be Jennifer Walters. Bruce has told me nothing about you.”  
  
“That’s right, Mr Stark. I hope you’ve been keeping the Doc here occupied,” she said as she shook his hand firmly. She had changed her demeanour completely - she was all business. Bruce had told her countless times her ‘lawyer-persona’ scared the shit out of him, which he guessed was the point. He suddenly wondered what it would be like to put her and General Ross in the same room.  
  
“Oh indeed I have, Miss Walters,” and he grinned evilly. “We’ve been up all night, haven’t we, _Doc_?”  
  
“Uh, let’s go,” Bruce said, pulling his cousin away. He mouthed, ‘Don’t!’ at Tony as they walked out the building. Tony just grinned in return.  
  
“You’re friends with that asshole?” Jen asked as soon as they were outside.  
  
“He’s not as bad as he puts on. Much like you when you’re playing lawyer. He does it for kicks, mainly.”  
  
Bruce was so quick to defend him, Jen didn’t ask any more questions. But she knew the sort of man Tony was. He practically had his own column in the gossip magazines for his exploits, as Iron Man but especially as a playboy. Judging by his ‘conquests’ and the way he treated them the morning after, he seemed the sort who would value someone’s worth before they even spoke. Still, Bruce didn’t take fools gladly, so if he thought there was more to Tony than his reputation, then she would trust Bruce’s judgement.  
  
They found a diner a few blocks down. Most of the businesses were open or had found ways to work around the destruction. It was amazing how quickly the city could recover and build again. Jen ordered a turkey club sandwich and Bruce settled on the only vegan-friendly meal on the menu - a large plate of fries. He insisted they both have milkshakes too (his own made with soya milk). Jen didn’t comment on his new diet (he used to eat anything that came with bacon bits and three types of cheese) but then a lot had changed since they had last spoken. More importantly than what he was eating, he seemed to have changed a lot as a person.  
  
“Like old times,” he smiled when their drinks arrived. When they used to practically live in the small library in their hometown, they would always get milkshakes on the way home, giggling as they churned it up with their straws to make milk bubbles.  
  
“Okay, Doc, spill. What happened?” Jen asked as she stirred her strawberry milkshake, watching her straw bob up and down in the thick mixture.  
  
Bruce smiled without meaning to. Jen had been calling him ‘Doc’ since they were little kids, back when he would take refuge in her home instead of go to his own. She always said he’d be a professor and be admired by fellow nerds. It hadn’t worked out quite as planned, but then he didn’t know just how excited Jen was about the Hulk.  
  
“Okay, you know I was working for the government? The uber-secret projects I couldn’t talk about?”  
  
“But you told me about anyway,” she nudged him with her elbow, grinning. “The Super-Solider serum, right?”  
  
“Well, something... went wrong.”  
  
He went through the whole story and he realised - when he got to his girlfriend’s dad sending a battalion of armed forces his way - that he had never actually retold his ordeal previously. It hurt to talk about in parts, but Jen was the perfect audience - keeping quiet and listening intently, asking him to elaborate, holding off questions when he looked particularly pained. It was easy to explain everything to her - even the parts about stealing and doing worse to survive.  
  
In truth, Jen was so relieved, so happy that Bruce was alive and okay and sitting right in front of her, the story was exciting but seeing him was the important part. The fact that he was killing aliens with a gang of ass-kicking heroes was just the icing on the cake.  
  
“And now you’re a superhero,” she concluded.  
  
“Not exactly,” he said worriedly. “I’ve still got to keep him in check, still got to make sure I don’t hurt anybody.”  
  
“But you’re not running anymore, Doc! And you’ve got the rest of the Avengers to help you.”  
  
He kept his eyes on his plate, pushing the last few fries about absent-mindedly. “Maybe. It’s early days.”  
  
“I mean, I know the Hulk seems scary, but I kinda dug how much fun he seemed to having during the battle. And nobody got hurt - only those alien things.”  
  
“I’ve hurt people in the past, Jen,” Bruce said quietly.  
  
Having fun? Was that how she chose to describe it? Bruce had a million words to call what the Hulk did and none of them were even synonyms of fun. His other half may be doing good now but Bruce was still so cautious of when to let him out, and would always try his best to contain him fully at all other times. It was a constant battle.  
  
Jen saw the way his eyes dropped when she mentioned the Hulk (or the Other Guy as he called him). Jen had seen that guilt in his eyes a long time ago, when, she discovered later, he had been forced by his father not to tell anyone what he had done to Bruce’s mother. The heartbreak in his eyes was easy to see and Jen hated that it was back again. She would _not_ let him feel that way again.  
  
"Hey!" Bruce swatted away a spitball that had just landed on his forehead.  
  
Jen laughed and loaded up another in her straw.  
  
“How old are you?”  
  
“Lighten up, Doc,” she said. “You’ve got to stop letting everything get to you.”  
  
He dodged another spitball, a small smile on his lips. “Have I not just explained I have anger issues?”  
  
“Ah, you always did, Brucey, and I always get you to laugh. Besides, I’d like to meet Hulk sometime. I bet he’d be _fantastic_ in my kickboxing class.”  
  
Bruce imagined the Hulk at a gym in leg warmers and sweatbands trying to mimic a dance routine and immediately started laughing. Jen grinned in satisfaction that her plan had worked, playfully kicking him under the table for good measure.  
  
They conversed for a long time, ordering big slices of cheesecake and finding out more about everything they had missed since the last time they had spoken. He was more than pleased that Jen was working for a very prestigious law firm - something she had been working towards her entire life. Jen was currently in the middle of a huge case, where she was doing her best to convince her terrified witnesses to testify against Nicholas Trask, a high-up and very powerful member of the mob.  
  
“And how are you managing that?” he asked.  
  
“With little success,” she said honestly. “One guy... our main witness. He disappeared.”  
  
Bruce felt his heart constrict painfully. “Jen...”  
  
“I know, I know,” she said quickly.  
  
“Jen, are you sure you want to be on this case?”  
  
“Oh, you sound like my friends. I’ll be fine,” she waved her hand dismissively.  
  
“But--”  
  
“I’m not going to be bullied, Bruce!” she said sharply. Bruce watched as she took a deep breath and then sighed. “Do you know how angry it makes me that nobody can touch these guys? This is the closest anyone has got to imprisoning one of them and it’s terrifying. Even if we do get the guy jailed he’ll probably run his operations from inside anyway.”  
  
Bruce watched her face closely as he replied, “But it sends a good message, I think. That they can be got. That they aren’t impenetrable.”  
  
“Exactly!” she smiled warmly at her cousin. “I knew you’d get it. This means something.”  
  
“Just as long as you’re being safe, Jen.”  
  
She nodded, and then got up from her side of the booth to sit next to him. She grabbed him in another huge hug, pressing her face into his shoulder and once again, Bruce took a long while to respond.  
  
“Thanks,” she said, her voice a little muffled.  
  
“No, thank you,” he replied softly. “Nobody... I mean... people don’t want to touch me any more. It’s been a long time since... god...” he laughed. “Your hugs are magical, okay?”  
  
He could feel her smiling against his shoulder.  
  
  
  
They were heading back to Stark Towers, Bruce having insisted that she stay with him (“I’ve got two guest suites in my apartment, Jen. Two! Who the fuck does Tony think I know that I can invite over? General Ross?”) and Jen was taking a guilty pleasure in looking at where the Hulk had made his mark around the city.  
  
“Ohhh, that must be where he leapt up on the building to punch out those alien-things!” she said, pointing. “And look, that’s the bridge where it took him one punch to take down an flying space-monster!”  
  
“You know, I think one of those corny London buses does an Avengers tour,” Bruce said.  
  
“Really?” Jen asked, tugging his arm.  
  
“No.”  
  
She stuck her tongue out at him. “Meanie. Let me have my fun.”  
  
“But I can show you the hole where the Other Guy ground Loki down into a pulp... Tony mentioned something about keeping it as a momento.”  
  
She snorted out a laugh. “Why?”  
  
“He said it was too awesome to lose,” he sighed sadly, shaking his head. Jen was absolutely certain he was bragging, if just a little. It was good to see. It wasn’t anything like his arrogant attitude he had when discussing anything scientific - which she was extremely grateful for - more that he was feeding off her enjoyment and joining in.  
  
“I want to see you Hulk out,” she declared.  
  
“You’re so sweet. You want to see me in agonising pain, huh?”  
  
“He’d probably be more entertaining than you,” she teased.  
  
“Probably,” he admitted. “But he might not take your mocking as well as I do.”  
  
“Bah, we’re family.” She grinned. “Uh, I suppose?”  
  
Bruce shrugged. “I guess.”  
  
“The Hulk as a relative,” she said thoughtfully. “If we have Thanksgiving together, I’d love to see him carving the turkey.”  
  
“Smashing the turkey,” he corrected. She burst out laughing and punched him on the arm for good measure. Bruce laughed with her, and realised it had been a hell of a long time since he had done so. Tony was the only other person that made him laugh, and again, it was at his own expense. He didn’t mind so much - he was too busy enjoying the sensation of happiness to notice.  
  
Jen was still giggling when she stopped abruptly. Bruce figured for a second she thought she was being inappropriate and didn’t want to offend him, but then realised something was wrong.  
  
Her mouth hung open, like she was silently screaming, and Bruce stepped forward only to watch her drop down onto the sidewalk like a dead weight. He crouched down beside her, his pulse pumping in his ears like a drill, turning her over and seeing the blood staining the front of her blouse.  
  
Instantly, he checked her back where bullet had entered, checked the exit hole, processing it in his mind with where she was standing and that the bullet had gone clean through. Having configured all the data, he stood up, pushing past the crowd that had gathered and managed to tell someone, “Look after her,” before he let it all go and headed straight towards where the bullet had been fired.  
  
Coaxing the Other Guy out of the corner of his mind was easy, as easy as during the Chitari attack, and in those precious seconds between him and the Hulk, Bruce told him all he needed to know.  
  
 _They just hurt, maybe killed, our cousin. Our only living relative. The only one who stood by us throughout our crappy life. Do not let them get away._  
  
By the time the occupiers of the blacked-out car realised something was wrong, the Hulk had already smashed a large fist through the driver’s side window and dragged out the screaming man. He threw him through the window of the boutique the car was parked beside.  
  
 _At least a broken leg, possibly back_ , a small voice at the back of Hulk’s mind informed him, having noted how the body had smacked hard into the window frame during entry. _Incapacitated._  
  
The man sitting in the passenger’s seat had tried to get out and run. Hulk caught up with him and threw him at a nearby lamppost.  
  
 _Definitely broken back, maybe even fractured skull_ , the voice said.  
  
The Hulk then turned back and raised up his fists and smashed down on the roof of the car where the back seats lay. Where the bullet had been fired. A man screamed from within the now crushed shell of a vehicle, and Hulk smashed again. And again.  
  
 _That’s enough!_ the panicked voice called.  
  
“He hurt Jen!” Hulk roared out-loud and punched again. The car looked like it had been steamrolled by a tank - sunken in the middle and nearly broken in two.  
  
 _I know, and he won’t ever hurt anyone again. I’ve got to help her now. You’ve done brilliantly, now please let me help her before it’s too late_ , the voice said, still panicked but now using a calming and reassuring tone.  
  
The people on the street were witness to the monster stepping back from the now destroyed vehicle and shrinking down, growls changing into screams, green skin paling rapidly, and replacing the monster was now a shaking man, wearing nothing but tatters of what once were his pants.  
  
Bruce collapsed to the ground, the transformation so quick it made him nauseous. Panting, he got back up and ran clumsily over to where a few good people were trying to keep his cousin alive. The green fog in his eyes had barely lifted - he was running blind. His head was pounding so badly he thought he might throw up. All he knew was he had to see if she was still alive.  
  
“Let me through, I’m a doctor,” he said, which usually worked but even more so now they had seen exactly who and what he was.  
  
“She’s bleeding out,” a woman said quickly, her hands pressed into the wound. “It may have hit a lung.”  
  
He saw the small trickle of blood running down from Jen’s mouth. Her eyes were closed and her face was so pale, it looked grey.  
  
“Is an ambulance on its way?”  
  
“Yes, I called them,” a man nearby said.  
  
“Keep pressure on her wound. How’s her breathing?” he asked the woman who seemed to know what she was talking about. He found himself shoving the woman’s hands aside so he could cover the wound. He just wanted to make sure he was doing everything he could.  
  
“Unsteady. Blood pressure is down too.”  
  
He didn’t know what to do. All his medical work in the third world seemed to have vanished from his mind in an instant. He just pressed his hands over the wound, hoping that maybe by a miracle it would save her.  
  
“Bruce, it’s okay, we’ll take it from here.”  
  
The familiar voice made him jump back. He saw Natasha, Clint and Tony standing right by him. They were wearing their civilian clothes - possibly because they didn’t have time to change, or maybe because they knew Bruce could handle the situation.  
  
“Oh God, it happened so quickly...” and his hands were starting to shake. He was slowly losing the composure he had been trying so hard to keep in check. Somebody helped him up so they could get everyone out of the way and put Jen on a gurney. He didn’t even notice a quinjet had just landed in the middle of the street.  
  
“Bruce, it’s okay,” Tony was saying softly as he helped him to the plane.  
  
“I killed someone,” he blurted out. “I think I... I don’t know... it was so fast...”  
  
“That’s not the main issue right now. Right now we’re helping your cousin, and then we’ll discuss just how amazing you are at stopping the bad guys from getting away.”  
  
Bruce was barely listening. He was just looking towards the gurney and the S.H.I.E.L.D medics swarming Jen. More agents were examining the car and the men who had tried to kill her. Bruce didn’t dare look to see if they were still alive. He was guided into the quinjet and it took off whilst the medics carried on with their work right by him. His hands were coated in blood. Bruce pitched forward and put his head between his knees, feeling dizzy to the point of wanting to throw up. Someone began to rub his back soothingly.  
  
The journey to the helicarrier was quicker than Bruce anticipated, and it must have been flying quite close to Manhattan. They landed on the runway and people began to move instantly.  
  
“Bruce?” Tony asked quietly. “They’re taking her in.”  
  
“Why didn’t they take her to the hospital?” he asked suddenly, lifting his head.  
  
“Just so you could stay with her. I don’t know a hospital’s policy on Hulks, but this seemed easier than the police and other interested parties swarming you.”  
  
Bruce vaguely realised that Tony must have been somehow following them when they went out, and was the one to contact S.H.I.E.L.D. for backup. He followed the rest inside and to the infirmary. He watched through the window into the small emergency ward as the doctors got to work saving her.  
  
“Let me help,” he said weakly.  
  
“They’re the best, Bruce,” Natasha said, and her voice was kinder than he had ever heard it. “They’ve patched up much worse than this.”  
  
“She’s lost a lot of blood, though,” Clint said, warning him of the odds. He believed there was nothing worse than getting people’s hopes up.  
  
And all eyes met the window into the emergency room as the monitor signaled Jen’s heart beat had stopped. The doctors started pumping her heart as the defibrillator was brought to her side and turned on.  
  
“Oh God, let me in there!” Bruce said desperately. A strong arm grabbed him around the waist.  
  
“You can’t help. You’re too emotional, you might change,” Clint said softly close to his ear. “Trust me, it’s better if you don’t work on her.”  
  
“She’s my only family,” Bruce said. “She... oh god, she’s all I’ve got--”  
  
Bruce kicked Clint in the leg, and immediately he was let go. Clint did it deliberately - he figured if Bruce’s cousin was going to die then he ought to be by her side. Clint would want the same if it was his brother on that table.  
  
Bruce entered the room and the doctors were shouting at one another as the defibrillator was used again. The bodies swarming around Jen moved back and her motionless body was shocked once more, but it made no difference.  
  
“What the hell do you mean there’s no more blood? We need more if we’re going to keep her alive!” one called.  
  
“There was barely any on here to start with!” a nurse yelled. “All supplies were depleted from Loki’s attack!”  
  
Bruce ran forward, rolling up his sleeve. “I’m the same blood type as her.”  
  
A doctor turned to him and Bruce feared she would tell him to get out and that he was clearly acting hysterically. He didn’t have an argument if she knew who he was.  
  
“Why the hell didn’t you say so earlier?” the doctor asked and someone got him to sit down as they swabbed the crook of his arm with alcohol.  
  
Those waiting outside only noticed what Bruce was up to only when he had been hooked up to Jen; an IV running from his arm into hers. Tony ran in as soon as he saw what exactly he was doing.  
  
“Bruce, are you crazy?”  
  
“Just a little,” Bruce said weakly.  
  
“But your blood--”  
  
“I know,” he replied sharply. He looked up at Tony. “There’s no more blood on this ship. Either she dies or there’s a slim chance she survives this procedure. I... don’t like the odds but it’s better than not trying.” he swallowed painfully. “She’s all I’ve got left, Tony. She was the only one... I can’t let her die like this.”  
  
Tony didn’t say a word, and just put his hand on Bruce’s shoulder in silent support.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jen gets a little giddy meeting the Avengers, Bruce worries about what he's done, Tony tries to be on his best behaviour, Fury thinks Bruce made a stupidass decision, and Trask's team of idiot assassins aren't done yet...
> 
> Pairings for this chapter: Bruce/Tony/URT, Jen/Clint's arms, Steve/blushing, Natasha/badassery, Tony/inappropriateness, Bruce/self-loathing, Fury/motherfuckers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading this! :)
> 
> Comments are my bread and butter (um, at least I wish they were).

Late into the night, Bruce sat alongside Jen in a small room as she slept, watching the monitors closely and unable to stop the worry now flooding his mind. What exactly had he done? Had he just poisoned his cousin so she could die a much more slow and horrific death instead of on that operating table? His blood was poisonous - drenched in the same gamma radiation that should have killed him during the accident that changed his life. There was definitely a trace of it in her now, much like himself, and whilst he had by some miracle survived his accident, what chance did she have?  
  
But it had been hours. If she was going to die of radiation poisoning, then her health should have started deteriorating instantly. On the contrary, she was fine. He consoled himself there had to be a chance.  
  
“Any change?” Tony asked, ducking into the room for possibly the fifth time in an hour. Bruce shook his head. “Get some sleep, Doc. You look like hell.”  
  
“Don’t call me that,” Bruce said quietly, rubbing his face.  
  
Tony didn’t prod him for once; knowing just how stressed he was.  
  
“You’ll be more use to her when you’re fully functional.”  
  
“I think I’ve shown I’m no fucking use to her right now,” Bruce snapped. “There’s, what? Over two hundred people on this vessel? One of them would have had her blood type or O negative.”  
  
“Yeah, and she was crashing right then,” Tony said softly. “I don’t blame you for what you did. I would have done the same were I in your situation.”  
  
“I’m so goddamn careful with my condition and I still...” he put his hand to his face and breathed in deeply. “Maybe I should get some sleep.”  
  
“I’ll watch her if you want.”  
  
But what Bruce meant was just slumping down in the chair and putting her feet up on the side of the bed. His eyes would not leave Jen’s still face, her breathing slow but even. Tony took a seat by Bruce’s side, thinking about he wanted to say very carefully. For once, just saying whatever he was thinking didn’t seem the best course of action. He rehearsed the line in his head at least three times before he spoke up.  
  
“She’s not all you’ve got, you know.”  
  
Bruce turned to him slowly, confusion etched across his face.  
  
“What you said earlier. She’s not all you’ve got. You’ve got me. Us. The whole team.”  
  
He huffed a little sigh then smiled. “I know. Thank you. But back when we were kids... she was the only person I could talk to about anything. Even with my mom, we didn’t mention what dad was doing to both of us.  People thought I was a fucking mute, I was so careful about opening up. Jen got me to talk about everything on my mind. She knew I had anger issues long before even I did. And she was so proud of me even when I became an arrogant prick and thought I could replicate Erskine’s work like it was so fucking easy.  
  
“And she _hugged_ me, Tony. After everything. She knows what I’ve done and what I am and she put everything aside and hugged me just like it was a normal reunion.”  
  
“To be fair,” Tony jumped in, “I would have hugged you when I met you, had Captain Downer and Goldilocks not been there.”  
  
Bruce chuckled. “Thank you for being so restrained for once. I’m not much of a hugger, as you can tell.”  
  
“You? Professor Sourpuss? Nope, never noticed.”  
  
Their eyes slowly turned back to the bed and rested there. Bruce felt a hand on his shoulder and it made his muscles clench up like a gun had gone off. Tony lifted his hand quickly, but, after a second, he placed it back down, rubbing gentle circles.  
  
Bruce hunched his shoulders and put his head in his hands, eyes peeking through his fingertips towards his cousin and the monitors.  
  
  
  
Jen awoke in the early hours the next morning, feeling a tightness in her chest which developed into a sharp pain when she tried to move. She groaned and clutched at the area, finding a thick wadding of bandages covering pretty much her entire upper body. Memories were darting through her mind like cars speeding past on a busy intersection - images of green and grey and sounds of people screaming and a monster roaring and the feeling of wetness on her blouse spreading and pooling like a burst pipe...  
  
“Hey, hey, it’s okay. You’re okay.”  
  
The memories were replaced with a kind face smiling down at her. Despite her terror, Jen couldn’t help but smile back.  
  
“Hey, Doc,” she said weakly.  
  
He looked like he had slept in a kitchen drawer still filled with cutlery, but he was grinning from ear to ear. It didn’t sit right on his face. “How are you?”  
  
“Apart from the bullet wound? Peachy-keen.”  
  
He sat down next to her bed and took hold of her hand. “I’m so glad. It all happened so fast, I didn’t know what to do.”  
  
“Ha, you’re so modest,” and she chuckled which was more of a cough, squeezing his hand tightly, clinging onto him and not the memories. Trying to differentiate between the two. “I saw you Hulk out.”  
  
“Yeah?”  
  
“It was _awesome_. But I didn’t see what you did to the guys. I was... a bit woozy.”  
  
“Woozy is an understatement,” Bruce said kindly, making a point not to tell her what happened to the hit-men. She could figure it out for herself. He got up to look over her vitals and his eyes kept on looking at the machine that was testing the amount of gamma-radiation in her bloodstream.  
  
“I didn’t think you were an actual doctor,” Jen said suddenly, remembering she had wanted to ask him when he was tending to her wounds and she was trying her very best to not die. “Medical, I mean.”  
  
“Honorary doctorate,” Bruce explained, his eyes still on the machines. “It was whilst I was on the run. I asked if I could help out in this tiny hospital in exchange for sleeping in the waiting area and they asked if I interested in helping out more than picking up the trash. I basically studied the entirety of med school in six months but I had to move on before I could sit my final exams. They said if I stayed I would pass without question, but there were too many interested parties sniffing my tail. They were going to send over the doctorate but I didn’t exactly leave a forwarding address.”  
  
She stared at him, shaking her head slightly. “The worst part about that is you say it as if it’s something to be ashamed of.”  
  
He shrugged. “I don’t know, I think I would like to be known as a doctor of medicine rather than nuclear physics. Means I’m putting my mistakes behind me. Doing good.”  
  
“You are doing good. You’re a fucking Avenger.” He didn’t respond and his eyes remained on the machines. “And how am I doing?”  
  
“Fine.” And he finally turned to her. “In fact, more than fine. For someone who got shot through the lung under 24 hours ago, you’re doing great.”  
  
“And... where exactly am I?” she asked, looking around the sterile room with no windows. Bruce realised he hadn’t even told her.  
  
“Sorry. You’re on the S.H.I.E.L.D. helicarrier. They thought it would be better taking you here than a hospital.”  The bitterness in his voice was hard to suppress, but she didn’t seem to pick up on it.  
  
“Okay, now I’m excited,” she said, struggling to sit up. “Can I meet the other Avengers? Are there any cool weapons I can test out? Any super-baddies in the cells I can mock and point at?”  
  
Bruce grinned. “I’m not sure about the other requests, but I can ask everyone to visit. You think you can try being civil to Iron Man?”  
  
Her face fell. “Ugh, okay, forget him, just invite the others. What about Captain America? He’s pretty... well... I mean, I’d only kick him out of bed to watch him do press-ups, is what I’m saying. And that Hawkeye? Damn, I could just _lick_ those arms.”  
  
“I don’t want to hear this,” and he put his hands over his ears for emphasis. She laughed loudly, which again came out as more of a hacking cough, but she had a grin on her face that said it was worth the pain.  
  
Bruce sat down next to her on the bed, taking her hand and squeezing it tightly. Jen did one better and leaned against him, resting her head on his arm.  
  
“I’m glad you’re okay, Jen.”  
  
“I’m glad you were there, Doc.”  
  
  
  
As requested, the rest of the team minus Thor (who was still on Asgard) came to visit Jen the next day, each one making her equally giddy with delight.  
  
“Ma’am, I’m so glad you’re recovering well,” Steve said politely, shaking her hand and making clear eye contact. The perfect gentleman.  
  
“Oh thank you,” she said, a little dumbstruck. “I’m so glad you survived all that time in the ice. I mean... it’s a good thing you’re here with me. Not... not _here_ , but in this time and... doing good...”  
  
“Easy there,” Bruce said, and with his hand on her wrist she realised she was still shaking Steve’s hand. Bruce grinned at him, “She’s a little out of sorts on her pain meds.”  
  
“Of course, sorry,” he said to her quickly, as if it was somehow his fault.  
  
“Let me have my fun!” she hissed at her cousin as Steve took a step back from the bed.  
  
“At least let me blame it on the meds instead of you swooning,” Bruce warned in a quiet voice, pretending to be adjusting her pillows so he could lean close to her. Steve kept his eyes fixed on the ground, having clearly heard both of them.  
  
“Jen, hi, I’m Natasha,” and Natasha took her hand before Jen even realised another person was in the room.  
  
“The Black Widow, right? Wow, who did you kill to get that code name?”  
  
Bruce winced, knowing Natasha wasn’t exactly keen on jokes at her expense. To his surprise, he saw the corners of Natasha’s mouth turn up very slightly.  
  
“About five diplomats and a couple royals. Maybe a president along the way.”  
  
Jen burst out laughing, even though she knew Natasha was being perfectly serious.  
  
“Don’t ask her to elaborate or you might end up on that list,” Clint warned as approached the bed. Again, she hadn’t even seen him enter. “Hi, Clint,” and he shook her hand too.  
  
Her eyes lingered on his arms for longer than she probably meant, but she did her best to behave herself after making Captain America blush. The group grabbed chairs and sat down around the bed, trying to make this visit look at non-staged as it clearly was.  
  
“So, do you guys get to go on badass missions and stuff?” Jen asked after an awkward pause, making everyone collectively chuckle.  
  
“We haven’t been on any other Avengers assignments since the Chitari attack, but we’re on standby if needs be,” Bruce answered.  
  
“Clint and Natasha go on missions all the time because they work for S.H.I.E.L.D.,” Steve explained, “but they never tell us about them.”  
  
“We will if you ask nicely. You never seem interested in our super-cool missions,” Clint said. He turned to Jen. “We were in England earlier this week. Big issue with a rogue spy trying to kill everyone.”  
  
“James Bond?” she quipped and Clint turned to Natasha.  
  
“See? I said that too and you didn’t laugh.”  
  
“Do you see me laughing now?” she responded but she smiled at Jen in reassurance that she was only saying that to wind Clint up.  
  
“Did you get him?”  
  
“He got himself. Realised there was nowhere else to go but a very maximum, very secret security prison away from such terms as the Geneva Convention and he jumped off a high building.”  
  
“Such a mess,” Natasha said, in a tone that suggested someone had just spilled a drink, not liquidised themselves on a pavement. “He didn’t even kill anyone; just threatened to blow up the Houses of Parliament.”  
  
“That’s highly unoriginal,” Bruce said with a grin.  
  
“Ugh, you guys live in a movie, that’s so cool,” Jen said, trying her best to keep the whine out of her voice.  
  
“You just got shot by one of the world’s most notorious hitmen and the Hulk saved you,” Steve pointed out.  
  
“Yeah, but I’m the innocent bystander, you guys get to defend the earth! You get tickertape parades and lunchboxes!”  
  
“I haven't heard about tickertape parade being arranged,” Bruce said with a chuckle.  
  
“Why not? I for one am glad those ugly-ass aliens didn’t reach LA and screw up the traffic even worse than usual.”  
  
Natasha looked at Steve. “I love this lady. Can we hire her to be the head of our fan club?”  
  
“Hell, we should keep her around as our personal mascot,” Clint grinned.  
  
They ate lunch in the cramped room, all of them telling Jen various stories about their heroics and special abilities (aside from Bruce, who had already told Jen everything).  Clint didn’t seem to mind she kept on touching his arm whenever she wanted to ask him a question, and Bruce decided, finally, maybe she did deserve to have some fun when she could blame it on the painkillers.  
  
Tony joined them just when they were finishing their food and he shook Jen’s hand and introduced himself as if he had never met her before. He then sat close to Bruce and picked at the clumps of rice on Bruce’s plate without asking if he was finished. Bruce just smiled at him, not noticing just how mad Jen looked.  She knew Bruce to get giddy around fellow scientists as if they were rock stars, but Tony Stark was a womanising dickbag and she just didn’t understand how he could possibly act like he was a friend.  
  
“So, what did I miss?” Tony asked the group.  
  
“We have decided Jen is going to quit her job and be our official cheerleader,” Natasha said, squeezing Jen’s leg.  
  
“Sure. ‘You gonna put on one of those tiny skirts?”  
  
Both Bruce and Clint whacked Tony around the head at exactly the same time.  
  
“I’m kidding,” Tony tried with a smirk, rubbing the back of his head tentatively.  
  
“As if you’d ever get to see me dolled up,” Jen said. “I’d rather show some skin to the Chitari compared to you.”  
  
There was a live audience-style round of ‘Ohhhhh’s from the room. Tony looked ready to retaliate, but his eyes flickered to Bruce and he went back to cleaning his plate. A few sets of eyes met to share their confusion - Tony wasn’t one to drop an argument, even if his opponent was currently recovering from a near-fatal injury.  
  
“Oh please come and stay with us some time,” Natasha said finally. “There’s too much testosterone flying around.”  
  
“Nat, you’re one of the guys,” Clint said.  
  
“Don’t insult her!” Jen yelled. She grinned at Natasha. “Sure. You can teach me how to fire two guns at once whilst falling off a building.”  
  
“And disarming a bomb,” Nat nodded.  
  
“Dr Banner?”  
  
All eyes looked up to see Nick Fury standing in the doorway. Bruce got up without a word and followed where the director was indicating for them to go. He knew Fury would be visiting him soon enough. There was probably some rule about using radioactive blood on innocent victims. Not that he particularly cared - he wasn’t about to apologise for saving his cousin’s life.  
  
But then he remembered the Hulk and what happened to the guy who fired the shot.  
  
The party interrupted, the rest of the team swapped numbers with their new friend and went to leave her to rest.  
  
“Text me if you’re bored. I’m only training this week, I could use a break from kicking Clint’s ass,” Natasha said.  
  
“Oh I will do,” Jen said happily. She put out her arms for a hug and to Clint’s amazement, Natasha took her invite and enveloped her gently.  
  
“How come you never hug me?” he asked sourly as they left the room.  
  
“I’ll hug you if you don’t mind getting hit with my stinger,” Natasha replied brightly, and Jen’s laughter followed them down the corridor.  
  
With the rest of the team gone, she settled back down on the bed and picked up her phone to catch up on her emails. No doubt some people must have reported about the Hulk sighting in midtown Manhattan and maybe her name had been mentioned. Catching up with his cousin was certainly more exciting than she had expected.  
  
Fingering the bandages, she shifted a little and found it was less painful than it had been this morning. Her breathing was a lot clearer too. She tried not to wonder how someone who had had such a severe injury could shout and laugh so well after only two days of recovery. Maybe it was just because she was currently under the protection of the world’s best security team? They had to be good at patching up a variety of injuries on a daily basis.  
  
Whilst scrolling through Twitter and saving links to news on the Hulk for reading later, a doctor and nurse walked in.  
  
“Miss Walters? How are you feeling?”  
  
“Not as bad as I thought I would,” she said and watched as the doctor checked over her charts. The nurse closed and locked the door and Jen figured a physical exam would follow. Bruce had already prodded and poked her that morning, making various variations of the word "Hmmmm", with little indication if they were good or bad reactions.  
  
“Oh, you don’t need to--”  
  
And then she saw the barrel of a gun pointing blank-range at her face.  
  
“Don’t scream,” the not-nurse ordered and Jen had no intention to.  
  
“I thought the Hulk had seen to you assholes?” she asked, her voice a lot calmer than she thought she could manage. Inside, she felt like her body had frozen solid whilst her stomach had dropped to the floor.  
  
“We’re so much bigger than a bunch of idiot assassins,” the not-doctor currently holding the gun explained. “My boss would like to give you the option of suicide. I personally want to put a bullet between your eyes when you’re under S.H.I.E.L.D. protection and the Avengers are on the same goddamn ship. I’m planning on putting it on the top of my resémé.”  
  
“Bad guy lackeys have resémés?” she found herself asking.  
  
He grinned cruelly. “Bullet it is.”  
  
She was unsure what happened next. She watched the trigger being pulled and had closed her eyes in anticipation of death, but instead of hearing - or rather, not hearing - the gunshot, she reached out an arm as if possessed and just pushed.  
  
Jen opened her eyes to see the two men slumped against the wall to the far right.  
  
She couldn't explain how they got there, but before she was fully coherent of the situation, she kicked her bed to one side as she got out, stretching muscles and bulk that were not there mere seconds ago. Her footsteps were heavy as she approached the cowering would-be killers. Her breath came out in heavy pants and she picked up the man who had held the gun to her face by one arm. He weighed no more than a textbook. She shook him and his arm snapped, causing him to howl and scream and cry.  
  
Jen dropped him down in disgust and he cradled his cleanly-broken arm, curling around it and cursing under his breath.  
  
“You fucking monster! You are dead! I will fucking kill you you cunt!”  
  
Jen saw no problem in stomping on his chest. The crack of bones under her foot left the man still and silent.  
  
Her eyes turned to the other man who put up his hands in surrender, cowering in the corner of the room like he was staring at anything but the goofy, bookish Jennifer Susan Walters.  
  
“Please don’t hurt me! We didn’t know you’re the Hulk!”  
  
Hulk? Her eyes narrowed and she grabbed him by the neck, lifting him off his feet. He gasped and kicked his legs wildly. She finally realised her skin was a sickly green when she threw him across the room, his head colliding with the steel-reinforced concrete.  
  
  
  
Bruce was led to one of the conference rooms where he was asked to take a seat as politely as Diretor Fury could muster. The door was closed and Bruce felt like he did when he used to get called to the principle's office to discuss his 'behaviour'.  
  
“I need to speak to you about what happened,” Director Fury explained solemnly.  
  
“Oh, right,” Bruce said as convincingly as he could, already well aware what the conversation was going to be about.  
  
“I’d like to congratulate you on successfully terminating one of the world’s most notorious and deadly assassins I currently don’t have on my payroll.”  
  
Right. So the guy had died. Why he even had a shred of hope the Hulk hadn’t crushed the guy to death was beyond him.  
  
“And you disabled his teammates, one of whom has agreed to squeal about their operation and who was paying them, which means the gang Miss Walters was trying to convict won’t ever see the light of day again. They are now under our jurisdiction, so no trial will be required - at least not one that will be public. Of course, we will ensure Miss Walters’ fees are paid in full and she gets the thanks deserved.”  
  
He supposed he should feel pleased about that, and he knew Jen would be happy to be rid of them. But he can’t get over what the Hulk had done.  
  
“Something wrong, Doctor?”  
  
“I... I didn’t want the other guy to kill him,” Bruce admitted finally.  
  
“If it helps, whatever magic number you’ve got in your head having calculated how many people the Hulk has probably killed in his life, then I guarantee the hitman had you beat. Many times over.”  
  
“It doesn’t,” Bruce said.  
  
“Then just take comfort in the fact that you were there to save Miss Walters. If the first shot hadn’t killed her, then they would have ensured they finished the job.”  
  
The director studied Bruce for a moment, maybe wondering if now was the right time to bring up the radiation-infected elephant in the room. Bruce didn’t wait for him to ask, knowing this conversation was in private for a reason.  
  
“She doesn’t know I gave her my blood.”  
  
“Then I suggest you tell her before anything happens. The carrier is currently prepared for a Hulk attack, and unlike last time, it’s not going to cost us millions in repairs.”  
  
Bruce scratched the back of his head. “Uh, yeah.”  
  
He hadn’t even considered that Jennifer might have the same side-effects to the radiation as Bruce did. He had been so scared she might die, and now that he considered the possibility, the thought of her transforming scared him just as much.  
  
“ _Sir, we have a situation,_ ” Maria Hill’s voice could be heard from the director’s communication device on his belt. He pulled it out and raised it to his face, keeping his eyes squarely on Bruce.  
  
“Talk to me, Hill.”  
  
“ _Code Green, sir. Code Green_.”  
  
Bruce followed Director Fury out of the room and prayed, more than anything, that Jen’s first transformation would be a lot less painful than his own.  
  



	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jennifer Walters has transformed into the She-Hulk, Bruce has to help her, Tony is a peacemaker and Fury would just like his ship to stay in one piece this time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the lack of updates, lovely readers! I'll try to write more often. =3

Tony was already flying back to the tower when Fury alerted him to an emergency on the helicarrier. He headed back whilst Fury called everyone to the medical bay and where they had been only minutes ago.  
  
“ _Keep her contained. Do not let her leave the area_ ,” Fury ordered over the comms system.  
  
“ _What the hell happened?_ ” Barton asked, sounding like he was running.  
  
“ _Trask managed to sneak a couple assassins onto the ship. They tried to kill her and she transformed,_ ” Hill said.  
  
“ _Assasins? Again?_ " Steve asked dryly.

"I swear to God, what the hell is wrong with S.H.I.E.L.D.?” Tony asked, landing by the doors into the ship. “I’ve seen pawn shops with better security systems.”  
  
Tony joined the group to race to the medical bay, not sure if he would even be able to fight given who it was and what she had become. The rest of the team had the same look about them as they headed towards where all agents were rushing. They had been treating her like a dear friend mere minutes before, and now they were supposed to stop her like she was a monster?  
  
 _I suppose that’s not much different from Bruce, then_ , he thought wryly.  
  
“Cap, how are we doing this?” Natasha asked.  
  
“Let’s just get there and assess the situation first. Find out if she’s being violent and work from there.”  
  
  
  
The idiot agents with guns just kept on coming. Jen was screaming at them to stop but her voice was more of a roar than real words. She pushed the agents away frantically, causing them to go flying across the room until they hit the walls but it seemed like nothing would deter them. They just continued to surround her and shoot. As if the first round hadn’t proved that all they were doing was making holes in her night dress, each bullet rickershading off like a rubber band.  
  
 _Take a fucking hint already,_ she thought as she took a few steps back. Her back hit a wall and she looked down on the crowd of people, guns raised, some firing off shots and some just watching her. She wanted to run but where could she go? Her mind was foggy with where she was and what had happened. Currently all she knew was anger and fear and confusion, trying to plead with the agents to leave her alone but only being able to express it with brute force.  
  
“Jen!”  
  
Her eyes looked towards the far end of the corridor and saw Bruce running towards the crowd of soldiers.  
  
“Jen, stop!”  
  
“Bruce, wait!” Steve yelled as he and the rest of the Avengers arrived. It took them all a moment to realise the giantess at the end of the corridor was Bruce’s cousin. By the time they had arrived, Bruce had already ran to help her.  
  
He crashed through the crowd of agents and made his way toward what he knew was Jen, even if her transformation was quite acute. She had gained about ten inches in height and her once slight frame was now bulked up with muscles that had torn her night dress in places. She looked like a solid might that could take on the Hulk in a strongest superhero competition. Her skin was a vivid green much like the Hulk’s and her hair was a dark mass that shone green when it hit the light. She still had her facial features but it would be near impossible for someone who didn’t know her to think they were the same person.  
  
The agents lowered their guns at Fury’s order as Bruce made his way to her. They were to hold their fire until Banner was out of the way - it wasn’t like they needed two Hulks to contend with.  
  
“Bruce,” Jen said softly, stumbling forward towards her cousin. He looked even smaller than usual - like a tiny bird in comparison to her might.  
  
“Jen, I’m so sorry,” he said immediately. He put his hand on her now bulging forearm, every muscle perfectly sculpted.  
  
“What’s happening to me?” she asked him, her face looking so lost and so scared. Even with her might of a form, she looked like a lost child more than any monster.  
  
“It’ll be okay, Jen, I promise,” he said, not able to give her an answer but just wanting her to know he was there for her. He would fix this mistake, in whatever way he could.  
  
She frowned as he grabbed her arm and pulled her in for a hug. It felt strange, like she was holding something terribly fragile more than a huamn being. She wrapped her arms around him and immediately heard the small man gasp, his limbs flailing and his eyes widening in shock. She didn’t understand - she was barely touching him.  
  
“Drop him, monster!”  
  
The agents started firing above Bruce’s head and Jen screamed. He slipped out of her hands and she shoved around seven agents away with one sweep of her arm, running away from the noise and destruction before they had a chance to follow.  
  
Bruce felt like someone had put a cinderblock on his chest as he struggled to get up, only catching a glimpse of his cousin running down the corridor. Director Fury and Steve helped Bruce to his feet as he coughed loudly, trying to get his breath back.  
  
“Easy there,” Steve said gently.  
  
“Let me go after her, she didn’t mean it,” he said weakly, clutching at his chest. “She doesn’t know her own strength.”  
  
“Really?” the director asked curiously.  
  
“Sir, she’s heading for the engine room! She could take this ship down,” Hill warned, her gun raised as she directed people to follow the monster.  
  
“No, stop! You’re scaring her!” Bruce yelled.  
  
“I’ve got a team ready to contain her in the cage,” Hill replied. “She won’t have time to get scared.”  
  
“Let me talk to her,” he said. The agents looked at each other like he was crazy.  
  
“I think we’re beyond talking, Doctor,” Fury said firmly.  
  
“She recognised me and right now she’s just confused by what’s happened.”  
  
“You honestly think negotiation will work with a Hulk?” Agent Hill asked.  
  
Tony stepped forward, lifting his face-plate. “Okay, kiddies, I say we do what the nice doctor says. Bruce is world's foremost expert on gamma-radiation and the only person on the planet who knows what she’s going through.  That’s already two up on your lackeys. If you want to stop her from hurting your precious ship, listen to him.”  
  
“He’s got a point. If anyone should be talking to her, it’s him,” Clint said firmly.  
  
Agent Hill looked at Fury for confirmation of this plan. Hearing the distant roar of a new Hulk, he nodded at Bruce.  
  
“You’ve got ten minutes. If she’s not calmed, contained or down by then, we’re doing everything and anything to stop her.”  
  
“Then you’ll have to take down both of us,” Bruce said immediately.  
  
“Is that a threat, Doctor?”  
  
“This is as much your mess as it is mine, Director. If you send your agents after us, the Hulk will instinctively come out to protect her. And frankly, I’m not stopping him.”  
  
He pushed past the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents who were awaiting their orders and ran in the direction Jen had headed.  
  
“Follow him,” Fury told Hill who nodded firmly.  
  
“Hey, no,” Tony said angrily. “What did Bruce just say to you?”  
  
“I’m not about to take threats from him and I’m not prepared to rely on him to stop my ship from getting destroyed yet again. I suggest you don’t stand in my way, Stark.”  
  
Tony went to retaliate but Steve put up his hand.  
  
“Tony, cool off. Director, be reasonable. She’s scared at the moment but she recognises Bruce. Let him speak to her.”  
  
  
  
Jen was stumbling as she walked. Every part of her felt heavy and bulky and she couldn’t stop banging into everything she came across. She just wanted to run away and hide, having seen what she had done to Bruce. It was like she was under some sort of trance or was living a very realistic dream. She wanted to scream and hurt people like the monster she was, but at the same time ask why she was acting like this and what the hell was wrong with her. She looked down at her green body and wanted to cry.  
  
“Jennifer, wait, please.”  
  
Hearing his voice, she moved quickly.. The door handle snapped off in her grip and she pushed the door down instead. It was like cardboard when she knew it was made of solid steel. Jen ran into the darkened room and tried to crouch down to make herself as small as possible.  
  
Bruce followed her slowly. He could no longer hear her and was scared that she was hurt or the radiation in her blood had finally become unstable. He made his presence known by standing in the doorway.  
  
“Go away,” Jen growled. She didn’t mean for her voice to sound so menacing.  
  
Bruce put his hands up, palms flat. “It’s just me, Jen. Are you okay?”  
  
“What do you think?” she asked.  
  
“I’m so sorry,” he said, stepping into the room. “I didn’t know this would happen.”  
  
“What did you do?”  
  
“You were dying... I knew we were the same blood type and you needed blood so I... offered mine.”  
  
Jen didn’t say a word so Bruce walked towards her. He crouched down in front of her, even though it made him even smaller. He put a hand on her green knee, squeezing it gently. She looked she was trying her very best not to cry.  
  
“Why?” she asked quietly.  
  
“Because... I’m an idiot. I didn’t know what else to do.” His voice had no power behind it. When she didn’t say a word, he continued.  
  
“I couldn’t lose you, Jen. You’re the only family I’ve got left. The only good thing from my childhood. Amongst all the fighting and beatings and my mom...” He swallowed hard before he continued. “Do you remember after my dad finally got arrested? The police tried to take me to some foster home but you convinced our aunt to take me in. I don’t think I ever thanked you for that. Mom was dead and I had spent so long living alone with... _him_ , with no-one to protect me any more. It took me years to even admit he was the one who killed her. And you got me to say it. You and your jokes and your games and encouraging me to keep studying despite everything my dad had told me about my brilliance making me a freak and a monster. You saved my life, Jen, and you continue to do so. I wanted you to live and I acted rashly. Like I knew everything, yet again. Like I had all the answers.”  
  
Jen lifted her head to see Bruce angrily wipe away a stray tear that had started to run down his cheek. He sighed loudly, his head still bowed.  
  
“I’m sorry, Jen. You’re so much better than I will ever be.”  
  
They stayed silent, Bruce squeezing her leg comfortingly and Jen taking in slow, steady breaths. She wanted to ask more questions, to find out exactly what had been done to her, but the shock was too great. She just keep on looking down at her green, muscled body and feeling sick.  
  
Both their heads turned towards the door as they heard the distinct sound of boots stomping towards them. Jen went to move but Bruce put his hand out to stop her and stood up instead, walking towards the door to see who was approaching.  
  
“It’s okay!” Bruce  yelled at the soldiers approaching. “She’s fine--”  
  
Jen jumped to her feet when she saw her cousin being shoved to the side and he collided head-on with the doorframe. She realised just how stupid they had to be if they were going to shove the Hulk’s walking, talking cage like he was just another civilian.  
  
“Miss Walters, we need to take you into custody,” the agent who seemed to have pulled the short straw said as boldly as he could manage.  
  
Bruce groaned, clutching his head. Despite this, he still moved towards Jen to hold his hands up and put himself between her and the soldiers.  
  
“Just calm down,” he said weakly. “She’s not going to hurt anyone.”  
  
 _If he’s telling_ them _to calm down, then this is serious_ , Jen thought to herself grimly. She was aware they were all staring at her like a dumb hiker might stare at a grizzly bear who had found their campsite.  
  
“Failure to comply will result in us opening fire,” the agent said firmly.  
  
“I’m not going with you!” Jen said angrily. “Listen to Bruce, he’s helping me.”  
  
“Take aim,” the agent said, as if Jen hadn’t said a word, and twenty guns were raised up at her simultaneously.  
  
“I said, _calm down_ ,” Bruce said, his voice deepening. Suddenly the soldiers had reason to pay attention to him.  
  
For the second time in person, Jen witnessed her brilliant cousin change into a mass of muscles and anger. And again, she wasn’t scared because he was changing for her sake. In a matter of seconds, tatters of a shirt floated down to the ground and the Hulk was glaring at the agents like they were bothersome house-pests.  
  
 _They want to take our cousin away. Don’t let them, please_ , Bruce had told Hulk as they switched places. Once again, Hulk had listened and wanted to do everything he could to help. Hulk knew there were means he had that Bruce did not - and if he got to show them off whilst also helping someone he wanted to protect, then all the better.  
  
Hulk took a step forward and immediately the agents moved back, guns still raised but with less force now. He opened his mouth and roared so loud the walls shook, snarling and looking ready to attack at any second.  
  
“It’s okay, you're not going to be that stupid, are you?” Jen asked, addressing the agents and putting a hand on the Hulk’s arm. Hulk looked at her, grunting in indignation.  
  
“Smash,” Hulk growled in a low, threatening voice. Jen shook her head.  
  
“Not yet. Let’s see what they choose to do.”  
  
“Bruce! We told them you could handle--”  
  
Natasha’s sentence died in her throat when she, Steve, Tony and Clint entered the storage room and saw two Hulks staring back at them. The agents looked like they were trying their very best not to quake in their boots, and some of their guns actually shook as they still aimed at the green goliaths.  
  
Tony was the first to break the long, awkward silence. He burst out laughing, lifting his face-place and looking in turn at both scientific wonders.  
  
“Hulk, She-Hulk, ‘you want to tell these nice people where they can shove their guns?”  
  
Jen went to speak, mainly to tell Tony that was not her name, fuck you very much, but Hulk stepped forward towards the soldiers and addressed them with a low, careful voice.  
  
“Leave us alone.”  
  
It was then that Jen remembered her new demeanor, and if they were that scared of him, then they were in for a treat. They were about to meet the Hulk family.  
  
“What he said,” and Jen flexed her muscles as she stood up to full height, tightening her hands into fists and putting one foot in front of the other. Her cousin stood beside her, glaring at the soldiers who were now starting to back away. “Unless you want us to make a mess of your pretty ship, do what he says.”  
  
Natasha folded her arms and turned to the soldiers. “Tell Fury we’ve got it from here.”  
  
They paused but then nodded and Jen breathed out a huge sigh of relief as they filed out, some of them too scared to turn their backs on their targets. She put a hand on her cousin’s arm. Hulk spun and turned to her, quick to react, but then he saw who it was and relaxed immediately. He grunted low and folded his arms.  
  
“Pretty puny, huh?” Jen asked.  
  
Hulk looked at her for a moment, as if trying to figure out what she meant, before he snorted loudly. It was probably the closest he could manage to real laughter.  
  
“Thank you, Hulk,” Steve said, stepping forward.

"Yeah, thank you Jade Jaws. You sure showed them," Tony said happily.  
  
“Jen family,” he grunted low. “All Hulk got left.”  
  
And boy, did that make Jen want to start crying all over again. She squeezed his large arm fondly, not sure what to say when he had just said it perfectly. It was then that the arm began to shrink and lighten, slowly transforming back until she was holding onto Bruce’s thin arm a little too tightly. She knelt down as Bruce blinked and swayed where he stood before accepting her careful and gentle hug.  
  
“You’re okay, you’re okay now,” he murmured softly, stroking her green hair like she hadn’t changed from the woman he always knew. Like she was just a scared little girl and not a green monster able to punch through steel. “It’ll all be okay.”  
  
She took in a few stuttering breaths, her heart rate finally slowing down and her body relaxing. Jen sank into his arms as she too changed back, no longer in danger and no longer needing the muscle or the strength to protect her. She sank down and felt tears running down her face. All of her energy had been lost in the transformation and he caught her awkwardly, easing her to the ground gently.  
  
“Take her to the cell,” Fury said grimly.  
  
“No, please--”  
  
“Just until I’ve spoken to the Council,” he added quickly, seeing the hurt on Bruce’s face. Two agents carried her away and Bruce stayed where he was; kneeling on the ground in his tattered pants, feeling like his entire body had turned to stone. A hand made of metal rested on his shoulder, and he numbly put his hand on top of it, needing the comfort and the strength to go on.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jen wakes up in her own personal cage, Bruce is there to look after her, Fury is holding his cards far too close for everyone's liking, Tony is revealing the flaws in S.H.I.E.L.D. security (again) and the team are ready to do what it takes to help a brand new superhero.

The next morning, Jen awoke with a stiff pain down her side, her head throbbing and the colour green penetrating even her closed eyes. Opening them cautiously, she saw a thick blanket had been wrapped around her and she was lying on what seemed to be a yoga mat and a single, thin pillow.

Raising her head slowly, she looked around and found herself in the middle of what looked like a circular room, the walls mainly made of thick glass. She felt like she was in a goldfish bowl more than anything - like she was there to be studied. Blinking away the green hue from her eyes, she finally focused on Bruce sitting on the other side of the glass. He looked exhausted as his head drooped down onto his chest, bobbing slowly as if he was either fighting to keep awake or had lost.

Jen rubbed her eyes and wondered how much of her dream was real. The room made her feel like she was still dreaming.

“Hey,” she said, and coughed loudly. It felt like her throat had been attacked by a cheese grater.

Bruce’s head shot up and he stood immediately, concern on his face as he approached the cage.

“Hey, how are you feeling?” he asked.

She shrugged and struggled to sit up, now rubbing her temples.

“Headache?”

“Feels like someone’s got a power-drill going in my skull.”

“It’ll pass soon. And your limbs will stop feeling like jello,” Bruce said helpfully.

She did feel extremely weak and appreciated that the feeling would pass. The lights were far too bright for her to handle and she wished her cousin would speak a little softer. His voice was coming from a communication system so they could speak through the thick glass, but the speaker seemed to make his voice vibrate through her entire body.

“Are you okay?” Bruce asked gently.

“What do you think?” she snapped, but then immediately put her hand up to apologise, to say she would be okay in time. Bruce didn’t push her, and just watched as she looked around the room once more.

“Why am I in here?” she asked finally, having figured out that there was no obvious exit to this strange observation room.

“It wasn’t my idea. You passed out when you de-Hulked and they just dragged you away. They seemed to think you’d change at any second.”

“I changed because I was in danger,” Jen pointed out. “I was scared.”

“But...” his eyes lits up. “You’re still Jen when you change. You’re still the same person. That’s amazing.”

She snorted. “Yeah sure, Doc. Amazing.”

Bruce walked closer to the glass and put one hand on it, as if to be as close to her as possible.

“But it is amazing. You’re strong and powerful but you’re still you. The most I get are flashes of the Other Guy’s emotions or brief glimpses of the destruction he causes. You’re in control all the time.”

Jen lowered her head, her arms hugging her body.

“It didn’t feel that way,” she whispered.

And with those words, Bruce couldn’t take talking to her in a cage any more. He walked across the steel floor towards a control panel and hit some buttons so the door to the round room opened with a hiss of air. Fury didn’t know Bruce knew how to work his own cage, or that he had figured it out during his first tour of the Helicarrier, back when he was only supposed to be giving his expertise in gamma radiation. 

He walked into the room and Jen accepted his hug, dragging him down to the floor and pulling him in tightly.

“I’m so sorry, Jen,” Bruce said, his voice catching in his throat.

“Stop saying that!” Jen said, trying not to cry herself, hugging him even tighter from the effort. “You saved my life.”

“I didn’t mean to do this to you, I swear... But Jen, listen to me.” He lifted his head and put his hands on her shoulders. “You are amazing. You’ve always been my hero. You can used this fucked up situation to do good. You can make these brilliant decisions and save the world.”

“Can I have a cape?”

Bruce chuckled.

“Yes, you can have a cape.”

“Awesome,” and she laughed until she cried.

 

S.H.I.E.L.D. were extremely reluctant to allow Jennifer back into the real world. It seemed they hadn’t even comprehended the idea of another Hulk being let loose on the planet, having only just allowed Bruce the privilege of not being followed every second of the day.

Fury disappeared to speak with the Council for hours, and after Bruce’s defiance of his orders and scaring off half the agents on the ship, nobody knew whose side he was on. There was every possibility he was fighting the Council just as fiercely as during the Battle of New York, telling them that Jen was no more of a threat than any of the Avengers. Or it may be that Fury was working with the Council to figure out the best way to make sure Jen never made contact with the public ever again.

Meanwhile, as her fate was decided, Jen had to stay in the cage. Bruce had disabled the big red button that would cause the cage to drop to earth (which he didn’t happen to mention to the Director) and stayed with her the entire time. He wasn’t about to abandon her when he had been the cause of her capture, plus it wasn’t like anyone was going to tell the Hulk off for breaking into his cage.

“What did you do? When you first changed?” Jen asked Bruce on the second day of her forced and his voluntary imprisonment. They were sharing a large pizza that had just been delivered, Bruce carefully picking the meat off of his slices and placing them onto Jen’s.

“I tried to hide it from people. I’d lock myself in an abandoned nuclear bunker and when I felt stable enough, I’d go back as if I was fine. But then one day I came back to find they had cleared out my lab and Ross ordered my arrest and I just... ran.”

Jen nodded slowly. “I can’t exactly hide it, anyway. And I can’t run from S.H.I.E.L.D. because you said they were spying on you the entire time.”

“Right. So that at least assures me they don’t want to hurt you.”

“But,” she interjected, “They needed you. Fury was working on the Avengers Initiative. They don’t need me for anything.”

“I’m sure they always need scary lawyers,” Bruce smiled weakly.

“I’m pretty sure they work above the law.” Jen looked around the massive circular room with a shiver. “And I thought taking on crime lords was intimidating.”

Bruce leaned across and put his hand on hers. “You’re not staying here forever. They know we have the upper-hand here. They can’t afford to deal with another Hulk attack. Tony has only just paid for the last repairs, and I’m pretty sure he won’t front the costs again.”

She nodded with a smile. “I would like to punch a hole through this room and just get out of here.”

Bruce chuckled. “Yeah, I’m not sure how ‘Hulk-proof’ this cage actually is, but I’m sure we can test it if worst comes to worst.”

Jen thought about what he had said, and she couldn’t help but ask, “Why did he pay in the first place? Tony, I mean.”

He shrugged. “Possibly just to calm down the scary, shadowy Council after everything that happened.” His smile faded. “But mostly I think because I said I felt guilty about the whole experience. I’d been an entire year without an incident. I was living amongst hostility and poverty and disease, and all it takes is a crazy wizard and one explosion for me to lose it completely and nearly kill a ship full of people. I should be stronger than that.”

“You are,” Jen said gently. “People don’t know half the shit you’ve dealt with in your lifetime and you still do good. Even as a great big monster, you do good.”

Bruce rubbed her hand with the pads of his fingers, moving them in small circles. She didn’t know if the motion was to relax him or her.

“Did it hurt when you changed the first time? Did you feel angry when you did it?”

She thought about this for a few moments. “No. I didn’t feel angry when I changed. I was scared for my life. I guess it was reflects, mostly. And it didn’t hurt, it just felt like I was a million times stronger than I was a second ago - if you can properly describe what that feels like.

“What scares me though,” she said, her eyes lowering to the ground, “is that I didn’t feel angry and then changed. I changed and then just felt furious, like I was a wild animal and I had to protect myself in any way. It was hard to realise what I was doing.”

“But it’s still you. You may be experiencing heightened emotions due to the change, but you’re still running the show.”

“Is it different because of your multiple personalities as a kid? Do you think that caused the Hulk in the first place?”

Bruce nodded. “‘Took me a long time to figure out, but it started as an imaginary friend who could punch through walls and beat up bad guys. At one point, I just became him entirely. I’d destroy my bedroom and not know how or why. Oh, now that really pissed of my dad...”

“So I’m me because I’ve always, I guess, just relied on myself to fight my battles. I never needed to dream up someone stronger than me. Although,” and she chuckled, “I can’t count the amount of times I’ve wished I was stronger. Braver.”

“You’ve always been brave, Jen. I meant it when I said you’re my hero.”

She smiled softly.

“So, do you want to try changing? Maybe see if you can do it without a gun in your face?” Bruce didn’t wait for her reply, and stood up to take a few paces back.

Jen sighed. Bruce had hinted at her trying to change a number of time over the last two days, and knowing she would have to at some point, it made sense to do it in a cage designed especially to contain the Hulk. She finished off her slice of pizza and dabbed her mouth with a napkin, then she put her hands on the ground in front of her and took in a deep, calming breath.

Bruce looked at her in confusion as she looked down at the ground, as if concentrating on what she was looking at. Ten seconds passed, then twenty, then thirty. Finally;

“I don’t want to,” she said, looking up. To his surprise, she didn’t look at all scared - in fact, her face was set. “I’d rather... wait.”

“Okay,” he said kindly. “Are you worried about S.H.I.E.L.D. or...?”

“I’d just... rather wait. I’m not ready to go through all those emotions again. Besides, I’m not sure I want to change just yet.”

He knelt down next to her and nodded. “Okay. We’ll wait when you’re ready. If you’re ready. Honestly, if I could have controlled myself during those first days, I would have too.”

“It’s still a lot to take in,” Jen agreed. She picked up another slice of pizza and spoke through a large mouthful, “I’m not sure I’m ready to call myself a superhero by any means.”

“Preaching to the choir, Jen,” he smiled and picked up a slice too. “But don’t forget what I said. You’ve always been good to everyone you meet. Even as a scary lawyer, you do what is right and help people who would usually get fucked by the system.”

She paused before her next slice. “I wish I could have helped you. Stopped the military chasing you. There had to be a way to prove you were innocent - especially when you were doing your best to fight bad guys in your own way.”

“Bah, as much as I trust and love you, I couldn’t drag you into this. That fact that I’ve inflicted my mistake on you is bad enough now.”

“Doc, believe me when I say I don’t feel like a mistake.” Bruce looked up at her curiously. “Yes, I don’t want to try changing just yet, but this is still a second chance. Trask was going to track me down and kill me, no matter where I was. He got his goons to follow me to New York and had you and Hulk not been there, I would have died in the street and they wouldn’t have been caught. If this is a mistake, then it’s a pretty cool one to make.”

Bruce smiled in gratitude.

“Do you want to stay with me for a while? I need to run some tests to see if you’re any different from me - other personality excluded - and it might help you to adjust in a safe environment.”

She smiled. “Thank you, I’d like that. I don’t think I could just pick up at work where I left off, really?”

“Who says you can’t?” Bruce asked. “There needs to be more supers in the legal justice system.”

“That is, if they ever let me out of here.”

“They can’t be much longer. And whatever their decision is, if it’s not what we like, I’m sure we can find a solution together.”

“You and I or Hulk and I?”

Bruce shrugged. “Whoever is the most persuasive.”

 

The matter of the two Hulks was not being ignored by the rest of the Avengers, who did not like the idea of Jen being put in a cage any more than Bruce did. They tried being patient; waiting for news so as to show S.H.I.E.L.D. they weren’t a rogue operation just yet, but they were growing increasingly impatient when they kept on getting replies of ‘more monitoring is required’.

“No, Stark,” Maria Hill said to Tony yet again as she found him sitting in her office. Tony had taken it upon himself to hound her at every opportunity.

“I just want to know a time-scale.”

“More monitoring is required. That’s all Fury has told me and until I hear any further orders, this is where we stand.”

“But you’re not even monitoring her,” he said, pulling out his phone and tapping quickly to pull up a number of images. “Nobody is watching the cage or taking samples. You’re bringing food, clothing and bedding for an extended Hulk slumber-party and that’s about it.”

Maria folded her arms. “And you expect me to tell you more just because you’ve hacked into the system yet again?”

“No, I don’t think you know any more. You literally don’t know what is happening with Fury and the Council and you’re stalling.”

She smiled, but it was the smile of a high-rank military official who just wanted to give the impression of compliance. She was no more going to tell Tony that then order a coup d’état against the President.

“More monitoring is required. We will let you know as soon as the situation changes.”

 

It didn’t take long for Tony to persuade the rest of the team to do as he had been suggesting ever since Jen had been dragged away. The room holding the cell was broken into with a few taps of Tony’s phone and the rest of the Avengers piled in. Not even a second thought was given to the security systems that was easily disengaged and the door to the cell hissed open.

“We’re busting you out,” Natasha said. “There’s a quinjet waiting for us.”

“And what is Fury going to say about this?” Bruce asked as the two of them got up and headed for the door.

“He’s still arguing with the Council. Once he figures out you’re in casa del Tony, he can book an appointment,” Tony said with a grin, bowing to both of them as they walked past.

“Aren’t you taking a massive risk, seeing as you’re going to be housing two green rage monsters under one roof?” Jen asked nervously.

“Oh please,” Natasha said airily. “We’re talking about Tony Stark here. The place has to be equipped to fit his ego first and foremost. You and Bruce are nothing compared to that.”

They reached the flight deck and Jen blinked in the afternoon sun. They seemed to be somewhere over the ocean, but that was about all she could figure out. At least they weren’t in the air and they crossed over to the waiting quinjet with ease. She sat down next to Bruce who grinned at her in reassurance. She shook her head in amusement.

“Some vacation,” she said under her breath before the roar of the engines cut out all other sounds.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So so sorry for the lack of updates! I've been reworking the entire story and trying to figure out where I want this to go. Plus, this whole chapter seemed to stump me on what I wanted to happen, or rather not happen, which has resulted in a lot being taken out and left for later. :)


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bruce helps Jen settle into Stark Tower, Director Fury has a frank discussion with Bruce and Natasha does her very best to reassure Jen that being a superhero is awesome.

“You can stay here as long as you want.”

“You’ve said that already,” Jen said with a small smile, sitting down on what was now her bed. She noticed whatever she had hurriedly stuffed into her suitcase all those days ago, eager to catch her flight to New York, had been unpacked as if she was staying for the long haul. Her clothes were hanging in the large closet, her make-up was arranged neatly on the vanity table and her toiletries were stored in the bathroom, ready for her to use. They’d even placed the book she had been reading during the flight on the dresser next to her bed, bookmark resting in the correct page.

“Right. Well... just let Jarvis know if you need anything.”

“That too. Twice.”

“Sorry,” Bruce said, pushing his hands deep into his pockets, leaning against the door-jamb and looking at his cousin like she might explode at any moment. “I just need you to know you’ll be safe here.”

“I’ve got the Hulk and Iron Man living in the same building as me. I’m sure I’ll be fine.” She paused, mainly for effect. “You _can_ defeat Iron Man, right?”

He snorted. “He used to supply the Hulkbuster operation with his equipment. So... yes. Easily.”

Jen laughed loudly and Bruce joined in, albeit a little forced. As the laughter quietened and finally stopped, he remained where he was, hovering by the door, clearly not wanting to leave her alone. Jen looked down at her feet, then back around at the vast room only the richest man in New York could afford to build as a spare room for mere acquaintances. Being in a place like this did nothing for her feeling like she was still in a dream.

“Doc,” she said clearly to get Bruce’s attention, “I’ll be okay.”

It took a moment for Bruce to respond, but then his face broke into a soft smile and he finally removed his hands from his pockets.

“I know you will be. I’ve never once thought you wouldn’t be able to handle whatever is thrown at you. Through all my worst moments I’d just say to myself, “What would Jen do?” and then everything would be better.”

“Stop it, you’re going to make me cry again.”

He held out his arms. “Need another hug?”

She stubbornly shook her head and pressed the sleeve of her sweater to her eyes. Her own emotions were a constant surprise at the moment and she never knew if she would start crying or burst out laughing at any one time. She suspected it may be shock, or possibly a result of her explosion of emotions that came in green, muscled form.

“Take all the time you need. Whatever you want to do, I’ll help you.”

“Thank you.”

“If you need anything, just ask Jarvis-- right, i said that. But do come down to my lab. I need to run some more tests on your blood and compare it with mine to make sure you’re really, really okay.”

“Great. But before that, I’m going to go soak in the tub for a few hours.”

“Sure.”

Bruce left Jen after a few more awkward moments, trying to think of something else to say to her. He headed to the lab as he had said, but once there he sat down at his workstation and realised he couldn’t focus on the task at hand. The thoughts of the last time he had loaned his blood out were playing out in his mind, and he wished he knew what had happened to Dr Sterns the night they had tried to fix his problem. He also tried not the think about wherever they were keeping Blonsky and if he had ever turned back from the Abomination he had become.

“Dr Banner, I have an incoming call from S.H.I.E.L.D.,” Jarvis announced.

Bruce huffed out a breath, knowing sooner or later they would get in touch.

“Tell them I’m in Cameroon. Or Laos. Or hell, make something up. Tell them I’ve been blasted into space.”

There was a pause. “Your tactic doesn’t seem to be having the desired effect, sir. Director Fury is insisting you speak with him.”

“I have nothing to say to him. I don’t work for him and I’m not about to play along when they imprison my family.”

“Sir, I’m afraid you may have to tell him that yourself. He’s overriding my protocols as we speak.”

“Dammit Stark, and you complain about their security...” he muttered angrily.

“Dr Banner, we need to talk,” the undeniable voice of Director Fury declared.

Bruce gave himself a few seconds to calm himself and focus on anything other than the man on the other end of the line.

“Make it quick, Director,” he said evenly.

“Doctor, I’m afraid we have very different opinions of what happened on my ship.”

“You allowed two assassins to attack my cousin and then incarcerated her when she defended herself against your hired goons.”

“I’m talking about how we handled the situation following the events of her transformation.”

“Yes. I notice that you can replace my dorm room within a few weeks but you can’t organise a blood drive.”

Director Fury ignored him, as Bruce expected he would.

“Doctor, how about you ask me why we didn’t just drop the cage the moment she was placed inside?”

“If you dare--”

“You wanted me to cut to the chase and I am,” Fury stated calmly but with all the authority of a commanding officer. “It was because her becoming a Hulk spells danger for both of you. People have been trying to emulate the Super-Soldier serum since the 40’s - you included - and if the public finds out how Ms. Walters gained her powers, both she and you are going to become targets. Captain Blonsky managed a partially-successful transformation using your blood, and it may just be that because she’s a blood relation, she’s able to withstand the process. We don’t know. But the point is this can’t go public. Enemies of both yourself and the USA must not know the way to build their own private army of angry green men.”

“So I’m supposed to allow you to keep Jen hidden away for the rest of her life?” Bruce asked.

“I’m saying this will not be easy for both of you. And if we can help, we will.”

“I’m not sure I want to accept your help, Director,” Bruce said.

“Be that as it may, it’s now a classified secret of S.H.I.E.L.D. and we can only protect the two of you for as long as we work together.”

Fury ended the call and Bruce was left to stare at the ceiling where the voice had been coming from. Fury was right, which wasn’t the easiest thing for Bruce to admit, but he wasn’t about to go along with whatever they wanted. He had known the second he had followed Natasha along to the helicarrier that he wasn’t about to trust the shadowy agency created especially to monitor superheroes, and that hadn’t changed.

But right now, he knew he needed their help.

 

The bath had done nothing to help ease Jen’s mind. A mere week ago she would have loved to be surrounded by luxury and have all the time in the world to relax, but now she felt like she was on a knife-edge. At the forefront of her mind, like a persistent insect buzzing around and biting her whenever she forgot it was there, was the sickening and terrifying thought of changing again. There was still her mind in that massive body but how did that make it any better when she felt so angry and so vicious when changed? How was she supposed to control herself when she was a monster?

At least with the Hulk he was a separate entity - someone who knew what they were and knew their own strength. She was one mind in two bodies and it had drained her of all her energy just to stop from hurting everyone around her, even without meaning to.

Around four in the morning, she finally stopped channel-hopping in her room (not even the most expensive TV package and the world’s biggest private collection of movies could keep her mind rested) and she pulled on her jeans and an old t-shirt to find somewhere peaceful in the building.

“Can’t sleep?”

Jen jumped at the sound of the voice from the other side of the mess kitchen used during the day by the employees of Stark Industries. Natasha was sitting at a large table, both hands around a mug of what looked like tea. There was a dim light coming from her phone, which she was clearly ignoring by the way it had been tossed to the other side of the table. It looked like there were a number of texts waiting to be read and just as Jen looked at it, it buzzed again to indicate another message had arrived. Natasha’s eyes didn’t even flicker towards it.

“No,” Jen replied and slipped down onto one of the chairs on the other side of the table. “How about you?”

Natasha shrugged, eyes darting down to her cup of tea and then back to Jen..

“I sleep when I need to. So how are you feeling after your whole adventure?”

“Well I’m still able to turn green, so I haven’t woken up yet.” She shrugged unhappily. “I just keep thinking this is the sort of thing that happens to other people. Like all those poor people who just one day find out they’re mutants. People like me don’t just wake up with super-powers.”

Natasha's eyes were suddenly kind as she smiled warmly. Usually, though she smiled just as much as anyone else, that brightness never reached her eyes. Jen had noticed that when they had spoken in the medical bay, sometimes not sure if Natasha was being friendly or analysing her closely.

“Well, if it’s all the same, I’m glad it was you who gained super-powers and not someone who is going to use them for evil.”

And then Natasha did something odd - almost as odd as when she had accepted Jen’s half-joking request for a hug in the medical bay. She reached across the table and put her hand on Jen’s arm and squeezed it gently. It was both comforting and confusing.

“You don’t even know me,” Jen said weakly. Natasha pulled her hand back and looked down at her tea once more. She then straightened her back and looked Jen straight in the eye.

“Jennifer Susan Walters, daughter to Morris and Elaine, both deceased, graduated UCLA top of her class and now a lawyer for Woolfe and Proud, one of the best firms on the West Coast. Has a tendency to work only for clients she truly believes are innocent and tells clients who are clearly guilty to plead just that from day one. She even set up a fund that helps out those who can’t afford her services. Despite these traits what would make most lawyers look weak to her colleagues, she is well-loved and she has been recommended for partner, although you don’t know that. Currently single and often states her work as the reason for this, and she has had a crush on one of the administrators in her office for around four months. She tries to buy local because her state is in the toilet, she donates approximately fifteen percent of her income before tax to charity, she will never turn down a stale piece of cake from her elderly neighbour because she knows he needs someone to talk to and her pet cat Professor Butterscotch was rescued from a shelter that nobody else wanted to adopt as she has arthritis and only two good legs. Oh, and she only smokes when she’s drunk and she drinks when she wants a cigarette.”

Jen stared at her in amazement, which seemed to be far too long as Natasha started to look concerned. Finally Natasha tried her best reassuring smile to ease the tension.

“I’m sorry, I sometimes forget not everyone has their entire life on file.”

“Do you know my inside leg measurement too?” Jen asked weakly.

“I had to research you, once S.H.I.E.L.D. started tracking Banner. And yes.” She tried to put that same kindness in her voice, but it couldn’t be have been more clear that she thought it was a sound reason for that level of scrutiny.

“He didn’t contact me, though. Not once. Why did you have to spy on me?”

She tilted her head, as if pondering how best to explain the situation.

“Well, it was because he _didn’t_ contact you, I had to look you up. In the first few months after the accident especially, when he was clumsy and way out of his depth, Banner contacted his girlfriend a number of times, his laboratory twice, his old college professor and a few work colleagues. In fact, you’re the only person from his old life he didn’t try to contact. Which, in turn, makes someone like me suspicious. Like maybe he’s not contacting you for a reason. You two used to talk, at least via email or text, on average three times a week before the accident. You were as close as brother and sister. I had to know if there was something you knew that he didn’t want us - and by us, I mean, anyone following him he saw as a threat - to know.”

“And you were the ones who were tracking him to stop real threats from finding him?” She low whistled as Natasha nodded. “I really don’t want to know how you go after your enemies, do I?”

“No, you don’t,” she said and smiled broadly. “But the point I was making, in my scary summation of your life, was that you seem like a good person; one who would want use her powers for good.”

“But right now, I just want to hide them,” Jen admitted. “You must have seen the news reports after the New York battle - there were people wanting Bruce to turn himself in, either to the military or a laboratory - and I’m not sure which is worse.”

Natasha nodded. “Yep, and there were reports that I’m a secret Russian spy who will sell American secrets at the right price, or, as one person stated, the right dick.”

Jen laughed but then she saw how Natasha’s eyes betrayed her face once more. She looked saddened and possibly a little angry.

“I’ve never been under public scrutiny before. Sure, when I used to cause hell there would be stories. Legends more than facts. But now people know me from the footage and what my skills are, I’m not sure I can work as a spy again, at least not until the hype dies down. That’s... daunting for me.” She looked up at Jen, “It’s daunting for all of us.”

“Well I thought you were wonderful,” Jen blurted out a little too quickly. Natasha’s stony face broke into a large smile and Jen shrugged. “Uh, by the way.”

“Thank you. It was my first alien invasion.”

Jen smiled back, but her mind started thinking seriously about the issue. For someone who had spent her life working as a spy and trained in not being seen, to now be a part of a team that everyone knew had to be a concern. Could she handle the same? Would she ever be happy to be seen as someone who saved the world and took the blame for everything that came with it, both good and very bad?

“Are you happy to call yourself an Avenger?” Jen asked. “I mean... would you want to fight with them again? Go through that public scrutiny and have more people know who you are?”

Natasha stirred her drink for a few seconds before she responded.

“In a heartbeat.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry this has taken so long to update. New job, not much time to write, blah blah, you've heard it all before. But thank you for sticking with this and I shall try my best to keep up the momentum. :)


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The whole team now contemplates the path they have just forged by turning their backs on S.H.I.E.L.D. Jen is ready to try changing, though she will need the strength of the whole team to help her.

That evening, everyone was now pensive about where exactly they now fit into the world. It wasn’t just Jen and her new-found powers - every member of the Avengers was now wary of the authority they had trusted - whether begrudgingly like Steve, Tony and Bruce or as their employees like Natasha and Clint. They all went to their parts of the tower to truly wonder just what they were up against when it came to the general public, for possibly the first time since the Chitari attack.

Natasha and Clint had hitched a ride without explaining that they planned on staying at Stark Towers, or at least until they found a safe-house of their own. It wasn’t unusual for them to stay away from the barracks from time to time to clear their heads, but not without informing Fury first and certainly not without permission. They only had to look at their phones to know their commander was pissed at their sudden need to go rogue. 

“Nat, you’re going to get us fired,” Clint informed her irritably as he passed her a cup of tea that evening. Nat just shrugged - it wasn’t the first time she had defied orders, after all. It wasn’t Clint’s either, of course, but he had just recently been at the mercy of a trickster god, and he was still wanting to prove he wasn’t one of the bad guys.

Meanwhile, Steve was less concerned about the Director’s feelings towards their decision to bust Jen free and more concerned about his teammates. Ever since he had found out they were trying to make the same weapons as Red Skull, his loyalty had faded towards his commanding officers. He was no longer signed up for the draft, and besides if soldiers weren’t allowed to be critical of those in charge then he certainly did not want to be a part of it any more.

But that didn’t mean he wasn’t worried about what an entirely rogue operation could mean, especially without the backing of the government.

Bruce and Tony were in full agreement over their actions, as if they could be anything else. The only trouble for Bruce was maintaining that confidence in the face of the conversation with Director Fury. 

“Thanks,” was the first thing he said to Tony when he joined him in the workshop.

“Think nothing of it,” Tony said, waving a hand. “I’m sure they’ll be times when you’ll need to bust me out of a Turkish prison after a charming misunderstanding with the locals. Call it repaying a future debt.”

“I dread to imagine.”

“So, what did ol’ Eye Patch have to say to you?” Bruce shot him a confused look and Tony explained, “Jarvis relayed your message about my security system needing upgrading. I’ll have you know I kept that backdoor open in case they wanted to us to be the guests of honour at the next alien street party.”

Bruce put his thumb to his mouth to bite off a hangnail as he spoke, “He thinks now that I’ve accidentally replicated the Hulk, people will want to track us down and use us to make super-armies.”

“As if it’s that easy?”

“Well, someone has already got a hold of my blood previously. I don’t know if you know about Blonksy--”

“You volunteered that sample up to someone you trusted. You didn’t know he’d make a truckload and start experimenting on anyone who so much as strolled into his lab.”

Bruce shrugged, though it was one of begrudging agreement.

“I just have to be even more careful now, I guess.”

“How about we find out if that’s all Fury was discussing with the Council?” Tony fired up a few screen projections without waiting for a response. “I couldn’t get anywhere whilst the conversation was going on, but no doubt at least one of the Council members keeps records of their super-secret discussions. We just have to track them down.”

“Is that our next school project, then?” Bruce asked, grinning.

Tony pulled up another virtual screen as if from thin air and slid it across the room towards Bruce. “How are your hacking skills, Doctor?”

“Hmm, I managed to cause some chaos back in my day. I used to concentrate on military intelligence, mostly. Those Stark Industries Hulkbusters can be pretty tricky.”

Tony’s mouth opened but he didn’t have anything to say. He turned to Bruce but found the other man to be smiling.

“It’s okay.”

“No, it’s not,” Tony said weakly. “Look, I didn’t know what they were chasing and if I did...”

“You’d have put more effort into finding a man on the run and not just the monster. It’s fine. It was before you’re big epiphany and Ross paid a good price.”

Tony looked at him in amazement. “Just like that? You’re fine with me?”

Bruce nodded. “Besides, your machines were pretty poor. Couldn’t even handle a few minor sabotages from a geek with a patched-up laptop he bought in a pawn shop.”

Tony took a moment to laugh. “Oh ho, I did wonder why they kept on complaining of faulty tracking systems. ‘Thought they were trying to con me out of free upgrades. And you’re asking me to help you? I think you’ve got this.”

Bruce grinned and shook his head, not about to agree. 

“Oh, by the way, can I ask you a favour?”

“Anything, Big Man.”

“Do you mind spitting into this cup for me?”

 

“Owwww...”

“Stop whining, I’m almost done,” Bruce said, eyes concentrating on the needle in Jen’s skin.

“I hate having my blood taken, Doc. You know that.”

“Yes, and I’m sorry. But look, you’re all done. Press this down hard,” and he pulled out the needle and pressed a cotton ball over the area in one quick movement. Jen did so with vigour, still refusing to look at her arm. Bruce meanwhile labelled up the vial and placed it next to his other samples (Jen’s hair and saliva, Bruce’s blood, hair and saliva and the same of a control subject - an even more whiney Tony.)

“So, how are you finding the place? Did you sleep okay?”

It was obvious Jen hadn’t, but she appreciated he was trying to sound more casual and less like a worried dad. 

“Not really, but I had a nice chat with Nat. She’s a real sweetheart.”

“Nat?”

“Natasha.”

“Oh. Really? I didn’t even know she was staying here.”

“To be honest, I’m not sure anyone knows she’s here either.”

“That sounds pretty much like her. What did she say?”

“Just that being a superhero is okay and that she’s got my back. She also seems to know every single detail about me.”

Bruce nodded. “Well, that figures. S.H.I.E.L.D. managed to track me down when the US Army couldn’t. I’m not surprised they’re thorough in their operations.”

“Except when it comes to screening who comes on board their super-cool space jet.”

He pointed at her with a snap of his fingers and nodded. “Except that, yes.”

Jen chanced a look at her ‘wound’ and saw it wasn’t bleeding, with only a red dot on the cotton bud to show for her complaining. Still, she stuck a band-aid over her injury all the same before jumping down from the medical table. Jen looked over Bruce’s shoulder as he started to work the samples into the computer programme, enjoying watching him in full ‘brainiac-mode’ as she used to describe it when they were teenagers.

“Give it a few minutes and we’ll start to see the similarities between us soon enough.”

“Okay.” She watched him tapping away into the impressive-looking computer system - with virtual screens hovering around him and various files of data opening and merging. 

“I think I’m ready to try changing again.”

“Yeah?” Bruce’s attention immediately diverted from the impressive technology and he turned away from the screen. Jen nodded, though she hugged her arms a little tightly. 

“Yeah. But promise me, _swear_ to me, you’ll stop me if I go to hurt someone.”

“Of course. We’ll do it somewhere pretty solid and I’ll be on standby in case the Hulk needs to take you down. If he can, anyway.”

Jen nodded with a heavy sigh. 

“Are you sure you want to do this? Because remember it’s your choice and nobody can tell you what you should be doing.”

“No, I’m sure. If just to see what happens and if I ever want to do it in order to save the day. I might just be this big angry machine that can’t follow orders.”

“Jen, you’re a brilliant, amazing woman who doesn’t take shit from anybody. Of course you’ll be able to save the day.”

“Oh stop it, Doc.”

Bruce grinned and watched as the corners of Jen’s mouth turned upwards, if only a little. He went to turn back to his work before he knew he had to be completely honest with her. 

“Listen, Director Fury called me.”

She looked up, her face worried. “And?”

“And in-between the bullshit about looking after our best intentions, he said something that I’m sorry to say makes a lot of sense. What I am and now what you are is two too many freak accidents. There’s already been one maniac who took a look at me and wanted the same and if people find out my blood can somehow make others like me... it’s dangerous to say the least.”

Jen was silent for a long pause, a feeling of dread working its way up from the bottom of her stomach. She knew where he was going with this - and she had had just a taste of it when S.H.I.E.L.D. had decided to lock her away.

“Do you think they’ll come after us?” she asked, her tone as even as she could make it.

“Maybe. Or maybe the only reason you survived my blood is because we’re close relations. But it won’t be easy to convince interested parties the same. And seeing as the reason we’re like we are is because I got too excited by the Super-Solider programme, it won’t be long after they see you that others will try the same. And even though I hate to admit it, Fury is right, we--”

“Doc.”

Bruce stopped mid-sentence and stopped wringing his hands nervously to turn to his cousin.

“One terrifying problem at a time. Please?” 

Her voice was nervous, pleading but still steady as a rock. 

Bruce nodded and put a hand on her shoulder. “Sorry. Hulk experiment first, wider implications later.”

 

 

The basement was decided to be the best place to conduct their experiment, as not only was it the most solid part of the building following the battle, it also came with a state-of-the-art panic room built for accommodating, it seemed, more than a hundred people.

“If I’m going to be hiding from the world ending, I like to do with enough room to breathe,” Tony explained as the elevator reached the minus-fourth floor. “Plus, I was thinking of turning it into a superhero training area once I’ve rebuilt the place.”

Jen was quiet as they walked down the well-lit corridor to the main room. Bruce tried to catch her eye a few times but she was too deep in thought to notice. The impressive, futuristic room didn’t even draw Jen’s attention away for a second, and she looked like she was being lead to her execution. 

Clint and Natasha had joined them for the experiment. Were it a less serious moment, Bruce would ask them why they weren’t at S.H.I.E.L.D. and if it was anything to do with Jen’s incarceration. They didn’t look the sort to abandon their super-powerful employers, but then again they didn’t look the sort who would accept steady employment by the government either. 

“Okay, so you can suit up in here...” Tony waved his hand in the direction of what looked like a minimalist dining room, large enough to cater for a large wedding party, the long tables stacked up by one wall. “And we’ll be on standby in case you feel like crushing our bones at any time.”

Bruce shot Tony a look because whilst everyone else was used to his brand of friendship, Jen found him irritating on a good day, let alone now when she felt at her lowest. Again, Jen didn’t even seem to notice anyone had spoken and just walked to the centre of the room with a heavy sigh.

Everyone else made their way to each corner of the room, watching the woman in the centre and waiting for her to do... something. Her head was bowed and her arms were folded to her chest, but at that moment she just looked sad and alone, like they were observing a specimen more than providing moral support.

“Jen?” Bruce called as gently as he could. She turned to him slowly. “Are you okay?”

She shrugged one shoulder and kept her arms wrapped around her body.

He approached her slowly and put a tentative hand on her arm. “You don’t have to do this. We can wait for when you’re ready or never, if that’s what you want.”

She took a moment before she lifted her head and spoke.

“I want to do this, but I don’t want to do it because the last time I did it was because someone tried to execute me. How do you do it? Like, at the battle? You volunteered to change, didn’t you?”

“It’s... different for me, I think. I have the Hulk rattling around my head all the time - I know he’s there and I’ve learnt to call on him to take over. We can even communicate briefly between the change. But this, sadly, is all on you.”

Jen nodded in defeat. 

“How did it happen before? You said you were scared but how scared?”

“As in, a bullet being fired into my brain, scared.”

Bruce tried for a smile. “Guess you wouldn’t like us to repeat that?”

“No, thank you. The problem is, the change was instinctive. I didn’t even know I had done it until I looked down and saw green. It was more like a dream than anything else. Maybe it was the pain? I mean, if the bullet even got close to me. Maybe pain is a trigger?”

“I’m not going to test that out, Jen,” he said with a wry grin.

She let out a nervous laugh. “Yeah, maybe not. I just… wish this was easy.”

He squeezed her arm before letting go and stepping back.

“Whatever you want to do, we’ll be here for you.”

She found herself shutting her eyes, her arms now clenched tightly together in defiance of what she was facing. He was right, and she knew that as much as she knew her own delaying of the inevitable would only come back to bite her, but God how it hurt to admit it.

“Hey,” a quiet and yet strong voice said. 

Jen opened her eyes and saw Natasha now standing before her, her eyes and face full of concern.

“Hi,” she replied, feeling like the biggest idiot in front of someone she so highly respected. Superheroes shouldn’t have to deal with her sorry excuse for a problem.

That soft hand touched her arm again and she looked up.

“Just know that we have your back. In whatever you decide to do. I know over two hundred different ways to hide from authority, and I know S.H.I.E.L.D.’s every trick, even if I just quit their team this afternoon.”

Jen opened her mouth to ask why, but Natasha carried on talking.

“I trust these guys with my life, even if we’re not the most conventional team in the world. And I trust them to keep your secret if you want them to.”

“Thank you,” Jen said weakly.

“Any time. And, on the other hand, if you’d like to punch through walls and beat the shit out of every evil loser the world has to offer, then, well, I’d love to see that.”

Jen laughed as Natasha squeezed her arm in comfort.

“You make it sound so much more awesome than it is.”

“What, a green Amazonian goddess standing up for truth and justice whilst sucker-punching bad guys left and right? No, that’s not sexy at all.”

Jen tried to look anywhere but at Natasha at that moment.

“I said awesome, not sexy.”

“You’re allowed to be both.”

“Do you always flirt with the people you meet?”

“Not at all. Unless I want information, or I like them.”

Natasha thought Jen was about to ask the obvious question following that quip, but instead the other woman finally put her arms down by her sides, pulling out of Natasha’s soft grip. 

“I’m sorry, I’ll try to be more--”

But Jen wasn’t moving away to get away from Natasha’s advances. Instead, she was focusing on a new recess of her mind; of a strange, wild part of her she knew was now inside her. She shut her eyes and let out a long, slow breath, wondering if it really was as easy as Bruce made it look. 

A splitting headache came on so quickly, she yelped in pain and her fingernails dug into her scalp. Then there was the strangest feeling as the pain seemed to float away, like she was leaving her body entirely. She carried on taking in long, calming breaths but her very skin started to burn and electrify. 

The change this time was slower, and in parts it hurt as her body shifted and grew, every bone and muscle rebuilding itself into a new form. In other, much greater, parts, she felt like she was growing into what she always wanted to be. A stronger and better version of herself. Not a completely different person but an enhanced Jennifer Walters.

Her jeans had torn in places and now looked cropped rather than full length, and her baggy t-shirt was now a tight fit. Her hands has clenched into fists instinctively which she raised up to her face to see the vivid green once again. She let in and let out a long, satisfied breath and tested out each limb, careful just to shake out each so she could judge the new weight and strength. She shook her head and her emerald hair bounced on her shoulders, now thick and wild. Her green lips stretched into a smile.

“You look good,” Natasha said. Jen looked down at her. She looked petite now, though in no way less intimidating. 

“I always hated green,” she admitted with a chuckle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't forget about this story, I promise, I just couldn't think of where I wanted it to go. Reading through my notes, I realised the next chapter was nearly finished, so I wanted to post this, even though I may not be able to think of anything else. Needless to say, I want more of Natasha flirting with Jen because those two would make an insanely good couple, and I want Tony to put his foot in his mouth around Jen so much Bruce punches him before kissing him better. Oh and all of them battling evil with the Hulk Family in tow, of course. And as a bonus I want Thor to come back to earth and meet Jen and instantly think she must be a goddess because she's just that badass.
> 
> Anyway, I want to write so much more! And I might. But this may be it for now and for that, I apologise.


End file.
